All Audiences Approved

Found this over on Stephannie's page and decided to have the blog "rated." I guess if this place was a movie I would be more Disney/Pixar than Miramax.

Mingle²

WOW

Two posts in one day... can you stand the excitement???

No one ever tags me for the blog memes I just wander around the blogs I read and do the ones I think look fun. Anyway this one comes from JenLa.

Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday month and day only. Then post three events, two births and one holiday that occurred on your birthday.


May 30

3 Events

1431 - Hundred Years' War: In Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal.

1536 - King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.

1958 - Memorial Day: The remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

2 Births

1908 - Mel Blanc, American voice actor (d.1989)

1943 - Gale Sayers, American football player

and just to go along with my theory the there is never anyone good listed when they do the "born on this day things" in the paper for MY birthday....

1968 - Zacarias Moussaoui, French citizen found guilty relating to September 11, 2001 attacks

1 Holiday

United States – Memorial Day (originally)

and since they decided we need a three day weekend in the US and moved the holiday that was on my birthday....

Peru – National Potato Day

Who knew.....

it would be so hard to find a bike when you're short! I've decided I want a bike (yes I still have the 10 speed I got for my thirteenth birthday but let's face it .... I really don't see me riding that one anymore).

I stopped at Walmart (which has bikes in the price range I'm willing to spend on a bike) and tried two. Maybe I just need to get used to just having my toes touching the ground when I'm standing but both bkies felt too big for me.

Plus who in the world designs bike seats these days????? Man oh man they were not very comfortable. If I get one I see a seat cover in my future!! Hmmmm I wonder if I can knit one (JUST KIDDING!!!)

geesh

Oh for heaven's sake I finally post and the darn computer ate it.....

Trying again here!! Not sure where the past month has gone but I guess they do say that time flies when you're having fun (although I've also found that to be true at times when you're NOT having fun....)

I have pictures in the camera of non-stash stash but that won't help this post since the camera and I aren't anywhere we can post the picutres.

I've also added to non-stash stash with a skein of corn fiber yarn (it can't be stash it's a science experiment I mean it's CORN!!!) and some new sock yarn from Cider Moon in the peas and carrots colorway. I've been good so far and haven't abandoned any of the other socks in progess to start these yet.

Happy Birthday

.... to ME!!!

Nothing else just a shameless plug for myself and my birthday....

Busy Weekend

Not much knitting related to report this weekend. It was supposed to be a three day weekend for me but I ended up working on Saturday. Saturday evening was my 25 year grade school class reunion. When it first came up I really wasn't sure about going, but I decided to go and I was really glad that I did. We only had about 20 of us there but we all had a BLAST! We decided we definitely don't want to wait another 25 years before we all get together again.



Sunday was a christening for my friend's little boy. Today was the first day it didn't rain almost all week so it was time to cut the grass. Tomorrow is back to work and hopefully I'll get some pictures of the non-stash stash enhancement to post later this week.

My Knitlist

Once again "borrowing" a topic from Stephannie

Hopefully this will tide us over until I can get my act together and post pictures of my non-stash stash from last week's guild bus trip.

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.


Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up (I did take a class in this at Stitches East but haven't made a pair this way yet)
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn (sure why not ... I like trying different fibers!)
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing (some people in my guild have orders to hit me if they ever see me knitting Barbie clothes!)
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments (I want to design a purse but that doesn't count as a garment)
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting (I actually did a presentation on this topic for my guild once)
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (my nephew would love for me to knit his dog a sweater using her fur but I think not)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Ground Zero

This is the last of the NYC pictures (at least for now!)



I made a visit to Ground Zero which was very emotional. This is a picture from the side of the site. I was on my way to the walkway to get behind Ground Zero since the street behind it is closed for construction. Even though it was Sunday there were quite a few people working at the site.

Still More NYC

Well since it' been over a month since I've been home I think we are just about done with the NYC pictures.


But there are still a couple before we wrap up this trip.

First we have Times Square. I spent a while walking around there and looking at all the little tourist trap shops (I had to kill some time before m&m world opened at 9!) didn't buy anything though.














The Empire State building... the observation deck
was open the day I went sight seeing but I didn't
go up because the wait was 60-75 minutes and
I had a bunch of other things to cram into the day.
I did buy a hot dog and a pretzel from a cart in
front of it though for lunch.
















These are the steps at Dylan's Candy Bar at 1011 Third Ave in NYC. The steps have candy embedded in them (gummy fish, wax bottles, candy necklaces and other fun stuff). I thought they were so neat that I had to get a picture of them.


The store has some really neat things in it (as well as some great candy - the chocolate/banana flavored candy bar was pretty darn good!) Even if you don't like candy the store is also a visual treat.

More NYC

One stop I made on my trip was to Rockefeller Center on Sunday morning. The Today show had just started but no one from the show was outside at that point. Lester and Campbell were both off that particular day and I didn't stay for the entire show.

I did make sure I got a picture of the crowd though (and where the anchors would have been if they were outside while I was there!)

Imagine

Back to New York.... One place on my list of must visit was Starwberry Fields, the portion of Central Park dedicated to the memory of John Lennon. I've been a Beatles fan since about the age of nine (my sister sent me to into my nephew's room to get the stereo turned down and eventually had to come in herself since we both had headphones on at that point - I think the album was either Abbey Road or Let It Be).

It was nice to just sit on one of the benches around the Imagine and knit and people watch. Imagine is also my favorite John Lennon song - when I was in high school I had to give a speach on the meaning of a song or peom and that was the one that I chose.

Several walking tours came by and listened to the presentation of Gary, the "mayor" of Strawberry Fields explaining how the area came to be.

After I left the park I stopped by the actual Dakota. If you look closely they now have signs stating that only authorized people are allowed beyond the gate.

We interrupt ...

the business trip photos for another sock "adventure."

The sock and I went to a book signing at one of the local library branches yesterday.
Laura Lippman was promoting her latest book What the Dead Know. I have read all of her other works (the Tess Monaghan series and the "stand alone" books) and have enjoyed all of them. I haven't read the latest book yet, just picked up my copy at the signing yesterday so I don't have an opinion on it yet.

I will say that Laura was a very engaging speaker and very nice as well. She oh so kindly posed with the sock after signing my book.




The scary thing is that so far (granted I've only asked two people) no one thinks that posing with a half knit sock is the strangest thing they've been asked to do while on their book tour. Makes me wonder what in the world OTHER people ask them!

Central Park Part 2

(blogger didn't want to show the picture when this was part of the other post so we'll try it by itself)

I didn't realize that there was a carousel in Central Park so this was a great find. I really like finding different carousels when I travel and seeing the different styles of horses. According to my friend Judy (who is a REALLY big carousel buff) this one is a Stein and Goldstein. They were known for carving large, ornate horses and the only other complete Stein and Goldstein carousel she knows of is at Knoebel's Grove in Elysberg, PA.

Central Park Part 1

One of the first places I went to in NYC was Central Park. I actually went there twice (Saturday and Sunday). These pictures are from Saturday.

This is the mall which was pretty gorgous even without leaves on the trees - I imagine that in a few weeks when spring finally gets here it will be even more spectacular.

This just seemed like such a quintessential NYC picture. You have the trees from the park and then the skyscrapers behind them. If you look in the bottom right corener of the picture you can see the skating rink.

Culinary Adventures

Well it wouldn't be my blog if there wasn't at least one picture of my dinner every once in a while. This time we get TWO dinner pictures (can you stand the excitement???).

While I was in NYC I managed to have some really good meals and one VERY VERY expensive hamburger. We'll start with the burger - after my first full day in NYC I was too tired to go back out and find somewere to have dinner. The hotel restaurant wasn't open for dinner that night so I got room service. What we have here is the most expensive burger I've ever had. By the time they added all of the room service charges on, my bill was almost $42.00!!!



It was a good burger but I must say I wouldn't consider it $42.00 worth of good.

On my last night in the city I went to this little sushi place that I could see whenever I looked out my hotel room window.

I had the sushi box dinner and it was AWESOME!!!



It came with sushi, tempura, sashimi and teriyaki chicken. I got to sit at the sushi bar so I got to watch the sushi chefs making all of the sushi. If I had known how great the food there was I would have dragged myself over there for dinner after sight seeing instead of getting the room service burger.

I also had a phenomenal meal at Dawat restaurant. It's an Indian restaurant owned by Madhur Jaffrey (she's ther person that Martha Stewart has on her show when she wants to talk about Indian food). I had the Rogan Josh which is normally made with lamb, but at dawat they make it with goat. It was a really good meal and I even had dessert - gulab jamun..... YUMMY!!! No pictures of this one though.

Jersey Adventures

While on my trip in New Jersey I had the "pleasure" of being rear ended on the freeway on my way to work one morning. Luckily the damage to the rental car was minimal (couldn't say as much for the car that hit me). I was also VERY VERY happy that I carry my knitting with me since it helped calm me down a great deal while waiting for the police to get all of the information they needed from both of us.

I figured that the sock deserved to have it's picture taken with the damage once I finally got to the office. Between that and getting lost almost every day I wasn't very sad when I got to turn in the rental car early and move to NYC for the remainder of my trip. Not only are the streets there a grid I could walk or subway any where that I wanted to go.

Home Again

Still no pictures (but there will be several in the near future). Spent the last five nights in NYC. After I finished my week at my branch in NJ I was sent to midtown to work at a branch in the city. It was actually a very enjoyable trip and I think I walked almost the ENTIRE island while I was there. (I never made it past the upper 70s so I guess I didn't really do the entire island but it sure felt like it).

Today was long day - in part because my car service guy apparently had some awesome driving mojo going on this morning. They told me it would take an hour to get from midtown to Newark (I allowed over an hour - just in case). Ummmmm they don't know that Mario Andretti works for them.... midtown to Newark 25 MINUTES. Which means I was checking in for my 10:10 flight at 6:30 in the morning!!!!! Ummmm yep that's me taking that homeland security check in two hours before flight time really seriously.....

Of course once we were on plane we had an adventure. They almost threw a couple and their child off the plane. Apparently mom was accidentally placed in an exit row and they gave her an upgrade to first class. She took little child along and was politely asked to have child move back to coach with dad since junior was kicking the seat in front of them. That wasn't working so they had to get the gate agent involved and he flat out told them that if they didn't start cooperating they would be thrown off the flight and rebooked on a later plane cause at this point even THE PILOT didn't want them on board.

Unfortunately they calmed down and stayed on board ... why do I say unfortunately??? I'm the lucky person now sitting in front of them.

I guess I forgot to tell the airline I wanted the no screaming baby flight.

On the road

Greetings from the lovely state of NJ (actually I'm not being sarcastic much of NJ is lovely). This wi-fi thingy seems to be working so I thought I'd take a shot at a post... No pictures from the trip yet but the workout room has a FANTASTIC view of NYC. I spent my 30 minutes on the bike watching the TV in the bike console (only complaint I can't get Food network on the bike) and looking out at the Manhattan skyline.

Way cool.....

Anyone remember the fair???

In the interest of FINALLY making good on posting better pictures of the fair entries I do have a better picture of the fish blanket.



I have actually used the blanket once or twice to cover up with when it was really cold this winter. It did turn out to be just the right size for a "lap" blanket.

There may be blogging from the road in the next few weeks. I will be off on a business trip and if I can figure out how to get online while I am gone maybe I will delight everyone with a post. Can you all stand the excitement????

Changes in Attitude (changes in latitude)

Yesterday was one of THOSE days...very frustrating and stressful. I was pretty happy with myself though, prior to December a day like that would have sent me to the grocery store for chips, sweets, any kind of junk food. Instead I went to the Y and worked out for about an hour an a half. Did I REALLY want to be there when I first got on the treadmill - no not really. But I told myself just stick it out for fifteen minutes and by the end of that I was totally into my workout (and it helped they had Food network on the TV) and did the entire 45 minutes.

As promised earlier... pictures of my new "toys".

First is the big one that I didn't really think I needed but man have I loved it since I bought it!! (It's amazing how much faster things are now that I'm not running windows98)



The other is my constant companion at the Y. I love LOVE LOVE it.



I still need to add some more songs to it (right now I only have about 25 on there) but it really is a great little gadget.

Miracle (on ice - sort of)

Well I suppose two posts in one week does count as a miracle around here these days. Especially since this one even has (brace yourselves - a picture of actual KNITTING!!!)

I went to a book signing tonight for Kurt Browning's book A is for Axel (hence the sort of on ice part of the title). I do admit that I am a bit biased since Kurt is my all time favorite skater but the man is witty, charming, nice as heck and good looking to boot. I honestly think he looks better now than he did during his days of Olympic competition..... but anyway I digress.

I was waiting to have my books signed (I also brought along the autobiography he wrote in the early 1990s) and I had my sock in progress with me. I decided to steal page from the Yarn Harlot and ask him to hold the sock for a picture.
What resulted was this.....




Actually trying to put the SIP on was his idea. That is actually the heel of the sock covering his toes since I am currently working on the gusset.

I must admit he was a very good sport about all of this!

Still here

OK so far I've not done so well on the resolution to post more on the blog. Somehow the past two months have just flown by.

The other two resolutions are coming along better. I've lost about 20 pounds (as of the last doc visit) since the end of December. I've joined the Y and try to go at least three times a week. I've surprised myself by really enjoying it.

I haven't bought any new yarn so far this year. My current project is a pair of socks for me using some yarn that I bought in upstate NY last year.

I might add to the stash next month. I'm going on another business trip which will allow me a day in New York City. In addition to the usual sites I want to see I want to try and hit a few yarn shops.

I did get myself two new "toys" though. I splurged and bought a laptop which I LOVE!!! I can't believe how much I enjoy being able to be online while I'm in the living room. And since I'm running Vista (vs Windows 98) I got an ipod shuffle. Actually that was my Christmas present from my sister and brother-in-law since they sent me the gift card I used to buy it. It comes in very handy at the gym since my CD player really got in the way when I use the weights.

I'll have to see if I can get some pictures of the new gadgets and post them.

Happy New Year

Well here is the first post of 2007. I did make two New Year's resolutions this year. As my one regular reader knows I was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes. So my resolution is to get both of them under control this year and (hopefully) to be off medication by the end of the year. I already added some extra walking to my day today by walking back and forth to the laundry room down the street instead of driving.

My second resolution has to do with this

I have ALOT of yarn and ALOT of projects planned. I don't NEED to buy more yarn right now, I need to start making some of these projects I've had on deck for ummm sometimes several years. Most of these are things I want to make for me. 2006 was supposed to be the year of selfish knitting but that didn't work out so well. In fact that didn't work out at all. So while I do have things I want to make for other people in mind this year I also want to make something for myself. I'm thinking I will stick to some socks for now since I will need a smaller size sweater after resolution number 1.

Oh and to start the new year off right in blogland.... Here is an actual picture of actual KNITTING! (I know the shock may be too much so take a moment if you need to).

I made this sweater for my niece's second birthday. Right now she can wear it as a jacket but I wanted it large so she could wear it for a while. The yarn is Bernat Denimstyle (and it came from the stash - I bought it a few years ago while she was still in utero with plans for a different sweater).



I don't think you can tell in this picture but the buttons are little armadillos.

Happy Holidays

Happy Chrismakwansolsticenakah.

I promise that in 2007 one of my resolutions will be to blog more than once every full moon!

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting and do it all the time. While finishing a piece is the plan, you still love the process, and can't imagine a day going by without giving some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation involves leaving ample space for the stash and supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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My fist MeMe

1. FIRST NAME? Mary
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes - My mother's sister Mary Margaret
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Not sure probably within the last month or so. I'm sure something stressed me out enough to cry.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes - I actually get compliments on it.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Hmmm not sure if I have one. After working in the deli at our local supermarket for one summer, it was YEARS before I would even eat lunchmeat. I guess a good corned beef sandwich though would be my favorite.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes - I hope so!
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? I try from time to time but am bad at it. I think my last entry was not too long after 9/11.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes but I don't have my adnoids.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Are you out of your ever loving mind??!?! Heck no!!! Unless I was on the Amazing Race and had no choice!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Again I don't really have one. I buy what ever is on sale and maybe I remember to eat it (or buy milk so I can eat it).
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? A tough one again. I like most ice cream. I would say my favorite depends on my mood but I do LOVE Ben and Jerry.
14. SHOE SIZE? 6 or 6 1/2 (depends on the shoe - my feet are kind of wide)
15. RED OR PINK? Red
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I can be grumpy and take it out on someone who isn't making me grumpy. I am getting better at this and have been really working on it.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? I would guess my dad and my Aunt Mar (now that I'm older and she's been gone a while I don't think I always appreciated her as much as I should have). I also really miss my cockatiel, Wylie. He was my first bird and he was so sweet, loving and friendly. I really miss him being so excited to see me when I came home and just enjoying sitting with me and having his head scratched.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? No
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? My casino print sleep pants, my "Well behaved women seldom make history" t-shirt, an Eeyore sweatshirt and Eeyore slippers
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Bacon (way too much bacon!) Which I now bake in the oven since it makes it nice and crispy and doesn't mess up the stove top.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The furnace (which is not running cause I have the thermostat set at I'm not normally home now mode) and an airplane.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Red - something hot and bold!
23. FAVORITE SMELL? The air after a spring thunderstorm
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My friend Amy
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Their smile and their laugh.
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole this from? Well I don't "know" her but I like her blog and have been reading it for a couple of years!
27. FAVORITE DRINK? Honestly I guess water since that's what I drink the most of. If we're talking "grown up" drinks then margaritas or seven and sevens.
28. FAVORITE SPORT? Ice hockey
29. EYE COLOR? Grey
30. HAT SIZE? No idea
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope I prefer my glasses
32. FAVORITE FOOD? Hmmm I love Chipotle but sushi is another good one!
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings - I hate scary movies. I don't' even like the commercials for half of them!!!
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer - I live in northern Ohio and those 5 days are some of the nicest in the year! :)
36. HUGS OR KISSES? BOTH
37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Something with chocolate
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I don't expect anyone will.
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I don't' think anyone will respond so I guess everyone is least likely.
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? I just finished a book so I need to start a new one. The latest one from the library is Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich. I have stalled out on My Life by Bill Clinton and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. The last one was the required book for my freshman class 20 years ago. I didn't really "get it" then but want to try and read it again.
41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? At home and work pictures of nieces and nephews. Different ones in each mouse pad.
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? CSI and ER
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? I've never thought about this so I don't know.
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? California
46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Being a good knitter and having a head full of useless trivia!
47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Cleveland OH
48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I swiped it from
Stephannie

Alert the media

I hope everyone is sitting down, but today we will have some actual KNITTING CONTENT!! With a PICTURE!!

Does anyone need a moment before we continue?


This is a sweater I finished last month for the baby-to-be (BTB) my friends are expecting in February. The yarn is from the LYS that was going out of business a few months ago (it's Cascade 220 superwash). I went with the green since they don't know if the BTB is a boy or a girl.

The pattern is Tasia's Cardigan from Cabin Fever, which I can't say enough good things about. The pattern is well written, easy to follow and allows the sweater to be knit in one piece from the top down. The sleeves can even be knit in the round (my option) to avoid having to seam the sleeves.

I enjoyed this pattern so much that I am knitting the sweater a second time for BTB's big sister.

Today on Home Improvement

Well I found a chair today. It's not exacatly what I was looking for but what I really wanted was too big to fit through the door any way I measured it. Plus this was on sale and who can turn down a good bargain?



The covers on the cushions are removable so I can (in theory) change them if I ever wanted to.

Another Oddity

This is another one of those weird things that just strikes me as funny. Well actually there are two of them but who's counting?

1) Not only am I getting email from the future (apparently in 2035 I will be webcamming someone named Bunny.... uh huh let me jot that down so I don't forget) I am now getting email from the PAST. Not from last week or even last month - I am talking about email from the last century. I have had a few emails that have claimed to have been from 1903! Yep that internet was a real hopping place about 40 years after the Civil War ended.

2) When I run spell check on my posts the spell checker provided Blogger does not recognize the word blog. Wouldn't you think that a place that is in the business of providing blog space would know what the word was and how it is spelled?

Well in the immortal words of Gilda Radner.... It's always something.

Guess who ...

Is going to be Ms. Popularity with the department of sanitation today? Yep that would be me.

And for further proof that I will photograph and blog about almost anything I give you picture of trash waiting to be picked up!



Do you think my one woman show can be far behind?

And today on DIY

Well the project of the day was the utility cart in the kitchen. We actually have before and after shots today (I know everyone is excited.) Obviously (I hope it's obvious) this is the before shot.

All the stuff in front of it is my "fakantry" (my fake pantry). Stuff that I plan on using soon was going in front of the microwave cart so I wouldn't shove it in the cupboard and forget it was there.

After some major cursing at the idiot who didn't make the screw holes big enough for the screws in the box I finally got this put together.
It took a little longer than I hoped it would, but it turns out to be darn awkward to hold the sides in place before the top and bottom are attached. This might explain how I stabbed myself in the knee with a screwdriver.

Where did all the "fakantry" stuff go? Inside the pretty new cart.

Oh and if anyone was wondering? I have more stuff to take to Half Price Books!

More stuff gone

The purging of unused things continues at the casa. Today it was time for books, CDs and videos to leave the nest and go to Half Price Books. I literally filled the backseat with totebags and boxes full of things.
It actually took two trips to get it all into the store. I was pleasantly surprised though, they offered me $65.00 for all of the stuff. Considering I've had them refuse to buy things in the past I was thrilled that they were willing to take everything and I didn't have to deal with it anymore.

Tomorrow's plan involves the kitchen and getting rid of the current utility cart. This time there may be before and after pictures.

Vacation

I'm on vacation this week and I must say the first day of vacation was a productive one. I am on a mission to get my house cleaned up so that I won't be embarrassed to invite people over. It's not so much that it's dirty but I have TOO MUCH STUFF and really need to get rid of some things!!! Case in point, a couple of weeks ago I cleaned out my closet and my dresser drawers. FIVE (yes that's right FIVE) bags of clothes, a box of purses and a sleeping bag went to the St. Vincent DePaul Society.

Anyway, today I cleaned the bathroom for TWO HOURS!!!! Before anyone panics it wasn't QUITE that dirty but I also went through the storage (supposed to be a linen closet) closet and the medicine chest. Have some stuff to donate to charity (WHY do I need THREE hairdryers????) and a BUNCH of stuff to throw out.

I really should have taken before and after pictures, but I think I might have been too embarrassed to show the before.

Of course as soon as I was done I messed it all up and took a shower...

I also spent my hour watching Martha Stewart today shredding the HUGE pile of credit cards applications I have received in the mail that I just kept piling up on the shredder. Apparently I thought the shredder fairy was coming over.

Plus I have a box of videos, two bags of books (big huge tote bags) and mixed box of CDs and books that are headed to the half price book store tomorrow for resale. I know I won't get much (you never do) but I need the space and really need to get rid of some things.

Still on the agenda is to inventory the yarn in the craft room, clean the kitchen cupboards out (someone at work mentioned they could use some dishes), move out the current utility cart and assemble the new one that is still in the trunk from Walmart and clean out another bookshelf and the rest of the CDs (the ones in the bag were cleaned out at least a year ago).

Oh and I have knitting guild and book group this week. After this my 43 hour work week will be a vacation.

YIKES

Geesh I didn't realize it's been almost a month since I last blogged. Well still no pictures today but one of these days! I have all kinds of things to show here too.

Basicly I figured I should let anyone who reads this (my sister and Coletta!) know that I am still alive. I promise to have a real entry soon!

This is amusing

Well OK it's at least amusing to me. Lately I've been noticing that I've been receiving communications from the future. OK it's spam email but still! Today I learned that in August of 2011 I will be the proud winner of a Home Depot gift card and will be receiving a Motorola razr phone with an MP3 player! Gee I hope they know where to find me in five years!

I have knitting guild tonight so I am hauling the fair stuff along with me. I'll try to get some decent pictures of everything later this week and post them so everyone can see.

Let's try this

Well I got photobucket to upload the picture of my cross stitch, but now blogger doesn't want to edit it to my post. So let's see if it will add it to a brand new post.....



Apparently that did the trick. My piece is the little pillow shaped thing in the middle of the picture. Again - better pictures next week once the fair is over.

Results are in

Well I made it to the fair about fifteen minutes after they officially opened (OK I can be a bit obsessive).

All in all it was a pretty successful day for me.


My crocheted bag took second place (I promise better pictures once the things get home -it's hard to get a decent picture with chicken wire in front of you!) My bag is the black blobish thing on the bottom left of the picture.

My necklace that I knit with wire took first place. And my "hat" made from my class sample from the domino knitting took third. The hat has to be the big surprise of the day - I honestly didn't expect it to get anything. You can't really see the necklace very well in this picture, but the hat is off to the right side and the necklace is to the left of it.

My cross stitch of the beaver took first place. Nothing for the bib. (I'm trying to get photbucket to upload this picture but it's being difficult).

I received a fifth place for my picture from last year's fair. None of the other ones got anything.

The picture of my dad didn't win anything and neither did the camera. None of the camera's that were there had ribbons though so that was a little odd. You would think out of a dozen or so cameras they would find one to give a ribbon to.

The scrapbook page didn't win anything either, but I didn't think that it would.

But my big winner was the fish blanket. It took first place!!! I tried to get a picture of it but it looks OK in the camera but is just a big dark mess when I tried to upload it.

I added it up and if we don't count the cost of getting the pictures enlarged so they could be entered I think I turned a profit this year. It costs $10 to enter and you get two admission passes (which are worth more than $10) plus I think I actually won more than $10 this year in prize money (the most any of my placements are worth is $3), so not a bad day. Now I just need to start planning for next year!

No results yet

The fair hasn't even opened yet so no news on that front. I did finish a pair of socks today and amazingly, I took a picture and am blogging about it within hours (instead of months!)


The yarn is Regia Stretch which is 70% wool, 23% polyamid and 7% polyester. I call these my "teaching socks" because I made the first one while teaching one of the girls that worked for me how to knit socks. The second one finished really quickly. I started it Friday at lunch and finished it this morning. I got in some quality knitting time yesterday which turned out to be a movie day. There has been a lot of discussion about Monty Python and the Holy Grail on one of my knitting lists lately and I haven't seen it in ages so I ended up at Walmart yesterday afternoon to buy it. I watched that, The best of Gilda Radner and then I went to the drive-in. For at least a couple of months there is an awesome drive in in my neighborhood. Why for at least a couple of months? They are in negotiations to sell the property. I saw Pirates of the Caribbean (which had awesome makeup and special effects but was WAY WAY TOO long) followed by Me, You and Dupree (which was surprisingly good). I was able to knit for a while until the movies finally started, but after I dropped a stitch I quit.

The socks only used one full skein and a VERY tiny bit of a second (literally about 8 decreasing rows at the toe). The skeins are "normal" sized (50g) so usually there is a need for two balls per pair of socks. I guess the fact that I like my socks short is paying off. Of course now I need to figure out what to do with a not quite full ball of yarn.

I had considered toddler socks for my friend's little girl but think I may go for a pair of mittens. My online friend Ann, is having a mitten challenge so I was thinking I might try and see if I can get a pair of (small) mittens out of this.

Phew...

Well everything got finished (sort of! I never made a new scrapbook page, instead I used one that I had already made) and dropped off at the fairgrounds.

I can find out how I did tomorrow. Unfortunately I have to wait until 5 pm to get in. Turns out the fair doesn't open until 5 on the first day. I was all set to get there around 11 or so and see my results and have a fair food brunch.

Results will be reported once I make it home tomorrow night.

If I figured out how to do it, this little button should be over on the side that has my profile.


I've decided I need to go on a yarn diet for a couple of months. I've also decided that I need to log the yarn I have into a program I bought a couple of years ago so I have some idea of what I've got! There is one exception to the diet though - if I find a ball of a specific sock yarn I've been looking for I'm allowed to buy it but that's it! I think I might end the diet when my guild goes on a yarn shop crawl in October (that's the tentative date so far).

It's DONE

The (in)famous fish blanket is DONE. It turned out to be more of a crib sized blanket but that's OK. There are 120 fish in 12 different colors. All of the yarn is Baby Ull by Dale of Norway. Originally this started out as something to use up yarn that I had bought for a class. Well I only had seven colors so I decided to buy 3 more balls for an even number. While I was in Rochester on a business trip, I discovered the yarn shop near my office had two colors of yellow I hadn't seen yet so I bought them and was now up to 12 colors.

Someone asked me tonight if I would ever consider making another one and I said I might but not with such a fine yarn. I made two fish out of dishcloth cotton so I know that regardless of the type of yarn it takes about 45 minutes to make a fish. At 120 fish for the blanket that is 90 hours of knitting. I have no idea how many hours I spent on the finishing. I do know it was almost 7 hours just to sew the six completed strips together but I don't know how much time I spent on the fish themselves. So I figure if I spent that much time with a "bigger" yarn (like a worsted weight) I should have a much bigger blanket for the same amount of work.

I have considered adding more fish to the blanket after the fair is done if I find more colors of yarn that I like. But it's still a nice size to just have on your lap during the winter so it might just stay this size forever - who knows!



I know the picture isn't the greatest but I really wanted something to post with this. I still need to do the blocking before next week when I have to drop this off at the fair. I will try to get a better picture at that point.

Drive By Blogging

Hi all. Today is just a quickie post - no pictures or anything exciting. It's almost fair time and I need to get cracking on getting things finished. I submitted my list of entries on Friday and I have entered the following:

Crochet (yep can you believe it!) handbag - it's a small pouch type bag, got the pattern off the ball of yarn. Just need to add the beaded fringe.

Knitting - Other than above. Two entries here. One is a knitted necklace made with wire (you knit small wire squares and alternate with beads) and the second is a hat made from my domino knitting sampler. I've started knitting the hat band and need to make the necklace.

Cross stitch - Miniature less than 2 x 3 inches. I have a small picture of a beaver that I made a while back that I am entering (he's 100% finished!)

Cross stitch - picture less than 6 x 8 inches. This one is a bib that has been laying around for a LONG time. All I need to do is outline a carrot, tomato and broccoli and it's done. After the fair it will be a baby gift for my friend that is expecting.

Afghans - hand knit. This is the tessellating fish. The strips are done I just need to seam them together and block.

Hand made Felt - Knitted Felt This is the Market Squares bag. It's been done and ready to go since February!

Scrapbook - one page. Ummm this one isn't even started yet. I think I will scrap my trip last year to Stitches East.

Photography (these are all mounted and ready to go!!)
Nature (color) a picture of a thistle
Human Interest animal (no pet) a close up of a lorikeet from the zoo
Architectural Design (color) - The Beta Bells
Architectural Design (B&W) - The Sun Dial
Cuyahoga County Fair (color) - Some very cute alpacas from last year's fair

I'm also entering two items in the antiques category: an old camera and my dad's baby picture. I still need to get a frame for the picture since the category is framed pictures.

So that's why we are doing drive by blogging today. Everything must be delivered to the fair no later than Saturday August 5. The fair starts on Monday August 7 and I'm on vacation that week so I'm planning on going day one to see how I did!

Now for something different

Well, since this claims to be a knitting blog, I thought I would show you some more knitting. This isn't the most current thing though. I made this poncho for my niece's birthday in December. I got the pattern from the 2006 Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar and Kayla mentioned that she liked it when she saw the picture. I let her pick out the color and I used Shine (60% pima cotton, 40% modal) from Knit Picks.
The pattern was pretty simple, stockinette stitch with a dropped stitch cast off.



I'm hoping to have pictures of the tessellating fish blanket by next weekend!

It's Here!!!

Yippee, today was definitely a red letter day here - my new dishwasher arrived. I've wanted a countertop dishwasher for YEARS (maybe as many as fifteen) but the last time I remember seeing one was in an inflight magazine ages ago and the little bugger was REALLY expensive.

Well keeping in mind that google is your friend, I decided to google "compact dishwasher" just for the heck of it. To my surprise I found two different brands both reasonably priced.

Since I still had a gift card from my sister and brother-in-law for Walmart from this past Christmas (yes I know it's July, I wanted to use it on something special) they ended up buying me half a dishwasher for Christmas.

I've already done a couple of loads of dishes (have I mentioned that I hate doing dishes???)
Yes I took a picture of the first load of clean dishes to come out of the dishwasher.... Hey I take pictures of my food so I can blog it, so I really don't think anyone should be surprised!

I do promise that we will eventually get back to the knitting part of the blog one of these days!

Oh I Forgot -

Apparently Hell froze over in the last 15 years and no one told me. How do I know this? Miami University (formerly home of the no car on campus rule) built a PARKING GARAGE!!! It's a lovely structure and it blends into the campus nicely but it's a parking garage!!! Which, by the way, is the fate of the current home of my Googin once it's deconstructed - an underground parking garage.


But there are still some things that don't ever seem to change (thank God I might seriously cry if they did) - Turkey Gobblers and Brunos Pizza.


A turkey gobbler is a sandwich I used to get at least once a week while I lived in Oxford. Tuesday night was sub night at SDS and this is the one that I always got. In fact I don't think I've ever had another sub from them - EVER. When I go back I make sure that I make at least one trip there for a TGYC (YC=yellow cheddar).


Brunos has some of the best pizza ever. It's not fancy by any means but it has an awesome flavor. Plus how can you beat pizza for 50 cents a slice (I think it's now 75 cents but who cares?!?!). They had a fire after I graduated but are now back in their familiar uptown location. Now if only the water tower was still there to sit under while you ate Brunos.

My Second Home

Well in my last post we strolled by all of the places I lived in while at Miami (OK so blogger didn't want you to see Havighurst but I digress). Now we shall visit the place I might as well have lived in since I spent so much time there - Goggin Ice Arena.



I was the sports editor for our college paper my senior year and the hockey reporter for three years. Plus I published the newsletter for our local hockey boosters so I spent A LOT of time at the rink.

Goggin is going to be torn down later this year since they have built a much bigger and supposedly better Goggin elsewhere on campus. I wasn't able to get inside the new Goggin while I was in Oxford since it is still under construction, but the outside looks pretty nice.





Since my old Goggin will be torn down soon visiting it again was a bit like saying goodbye to an old friend. In fact I asked the fellow overseeing the broomball game if I could go and visit the steps leading out of the locker room. He looked at me like I had an extra head but said it was OK.
What he didn't get was those were MY steps, I spent ages sitting on them (fourth one from the bottom) waiting for players and coaches after the games so I could do my interviews for the paper. I have my name on the list to buy a brick once Goggin is "deconstructed" only because I don't think they'll sell me a piece of my steps.