the prizewinner and the bookfair

Random Integer Generator says 28 is my random number for the contest. Angela won a prize! woohoo! Thanks to everyone who entered and everyone who checks in and says "hey."

Today's adventure was a book event for our school in conjunction with Barnes and Noble. Mostly the librarian worked her a$$ off to have great goings on at Barnes and Noble, brought in a big crowd, and then the school gets a percentage of profit from the day's sales (if they mention the fair when they check out.)

I love our librarian. She loves books. She loves kids. I had to include this adorable picture of her reading The Greedy Python on the 100 acre wood stage.



I read/sang the book Summertime which is actually an illustrated version of Gershwin's classic. It's a beautiful book. Note the spring colored Flair Swing Coat. It's a little sloppy but it matched the hat and the mood.



No, no, I didn't buy any books huhuhn- have you seen my book stash? No way I could fit any more books in this house- except maybe a couple of the "necessities" as recommended in the book stash post. I have officially acquired enough knitting patterns for this life and the next.

Happy Dog Happy Dog

Liza doesn't sit still for anything- Glad I found the "action/sports" setting on the camera.

What's better than a trip to the LYS?

When someone else goes to the LYS, buys the yarn, makes you a present and buys more yarn and a great pattern and sends it all to you!



Even better still when it's a Crack Me Up kind of present Suzanne (a.k.a Yarnhog) was around very soon after I first started knit-blogging. One of the first projects documented early on was the Messenger Bag in Knitting for Peace. After many fruitless and failed attempts, including references to being "dumber than a box of hair," I finished a messenger bag- it didn't turn out "like the picture" (does it ever?) and I called it a day. Yarnhog followed the trials and tribulations and in the end I sent her a copy of Knitting for Peace. It seemed the least I could do.

Today when I got home a "real" Knitting for Peace Messenger bag (meaning it DOES look like the one in the picture)was in a box on my porch for me along with the pattern to Fibertrends felted clogs and enough matching yarn (Lana Grossa!)to continue my felting saga. And it's green. And it's got some fuchsia. And the patch is on it (which I had no clue how to make happen).

Yarnhog, you are the best! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

This is the first time I've been the recipient of a knitted gift and man, did it feel great. I am completely overwhelmed with gratitude. As I say to my kids at school, "it made my heart feel so good."

11-14-9-20 14-9-7-8-20

(secret elementary school code that spells “knit night.”)

Knit night was all about numbers last night.

Chris bought 66 skeins of yarn. While we are the same in that we both love and buy yarn, we are opposite in many ways- of which I believe we both embrace and appreciate about each other. Noted differences:

She had a shopping list of the exact yardage she would need for 3 different projects already planned in her head. I bought 3 skeins to start with.

She checked the Great American Afghan web-site to play with color combinations. I thought purple was talking to me.

Her final color choice- muted tans, browns, and blues.- likely to match furniture and other items in her home. Having no fine furniture to match, I can pick any color I want.

Dee was back and had a story about her lab who ate a size 13 men’s hand knitted sock that took 3 days to “pass through” and when it did, the lab promptly attempted to eat it again. I was thinking (hope you’re not eating lunch) that maybe a little string came out and she had to frog it.

I have nine rows of thumb left on the 2nd bird in hand mitten.

I have one size 2 needle that likes hanging out at the Knit Shoppe. Left it there last week-it tried to stay again this week.

Given my numbers, do you think I have enough delegates to win?

Miscellany

Click here for the Rowan Giveaway
Knitting- well I’m playing with the Great American Afghan. Too early for pictures.

The thumb on the left bird in hand mitten will happen tomorrow at knit night.

I’ve also been playing with mitered knitting and stash. Since all of my stash is generally green or green, it may match. Being the exploratory knitter that I am, I was not content to maintain a pile of perfect squares. I’ve been adding rows in between k2tog rows. I’m also planning on not doing it at the exact halfway point.

With the handspun Wicked done, it’s a relief to have some smaller things going on. It’s also a necessity if MaryBeth has her way and convinces me back to the sewing machine. Must. Stay. Focused.

Doginess- The puppy is recovering nicely. Mr. Sophanne took us for a Dairy Queen adventure today. Yum.

Dog story at school- PreK teacher has a young boxer who favors her Victoria Secret bras. I told her she needed to buy the Gabes $4 kind. She said “I do, but she only likes the Victoria’s Secret kind. I think it’s the padding.” To which the custodian said, “all we need to do is add a squeaky thing in them”. That CRACKED ME UP! Pre-K teachers are hug-central. You don’t have a chance at dodging those running arms. Can you imagine the surprise on the little one’s face if her hug was accompanied by a little “weewah” of a squeak toy? My Mommy’s don’t do that.

ETA apparently the above has already been marketed. click here for details

CMUS- a dog's life

Click here for the contest post

Hey gang- Liza is home and recovering. Vet instructions suggest that she not run- go up steps-etc. As if I could control that one bit. With the hopes of a speedy recovery I give you one of the favorite Mr. Sophanne dog stories.

Living in the Ohio Valley in the 70's meant hard times for a railroader in the Rust Belt and Mr. Sophanne was forced to drive a city bus on Wheeling Island He actually lived across the river in Bridgeport Ohio. There he was married to the z-wife (he opposes the use of the word ex- maybe he had a run-in with a xylophone) with 2 kids and a dog named Claudia.

There are many bizarre "it could only happen to Mr. Sophanne" stories connected to nearly every word in the description above but this one involves Claudia running away. Claudia ran away and was gone for a week. Hope was waning. He was on his daily route with a busload of Ohio Valley passengers when a dog crossed his path. You guessed it- It was Claudia. She hopped on the bus and got a ride home. Those familiar with the Ohio Valley and/or the definition of the word "Island" have figured out she had to cross the Ohio River to find him!

When I tell the story to kindergartners, I pretend that she actually knew it was his bus stop and she was hanging out waiting for him. Actually when I retell it to myself I do the same thing.

some questions answered re: knit night and a contest!

I was writing answers in comments but you can never be sure if people go back and read them. So- if you're a new reader, find a better post to introduce me (unless you're just here for the contest)

Anonymous Bonnie (if you decide to have a blog, I think that would be a great name.): When you finish with this post, search my blog for "knit night" and you'll be up to date.

poly_dactyl: I do share the blog with knit nighters. I don't really say anything I wouldn't say while I was there. I'm pretty sure the less than favorite Mary doesn't read it but I did suggest as much as I wrote while I was there that night.

Kristin: A KAL support group- do I need this? Is this part of the whole KAL experience? This is my first one. Yes I'm a KALVIRGIN. Am I going to regret this decision?

Brain Attack follow-up: what I didn't tell you was that Gina was a little worried I was having one because I couldn't finish my Bird in Hand thumb and have a conversation at the same time.

Low-Grade Anxiety follow-up: I am so clearly not alone in this phenomena. In fact.... what say we have a contest.

I never did have the patience for that thin Rowan 4-ply. Check Sophanne on Ravelry to find out what's left. (you can also see the colors somewhere on this blog if you're not a Raveler) I think there's purple, midnight blue, and squirrel gray (Rowan had better names but they escape me at the moment)- many skeins of each- great for fair isle somethings or to pass on to some unsuspecting contest hungry blogger.

At any rate- share your low-grade anxiety moments and win a prize. Have someone mention your blog when entering and get another entry. Random number winner take all. Let's make this the best contest ever! (BCE), a delayed 1 year blogovorsory, an "I finished the second Wicked, "Liza gets spayed", "losing your KALVIRGINITY" contest. Number will be drawn after dark on the Ides of March.

What is the cure for low-grade anxiety?

Knit night of course.

For those of you not familiar with LGA (low-grade anxiety), it’s a condition that I’ve made up. Symptoms include-

Worrying about whether you should be doing something inside when you’re outside playing with the dog.

Worrying about whether you should be outside playing with the dog when you’re inside doing something

Reasons why knit night is the cure:

A chauffeur there and back. No driving except for one exit on 79N.
I know when to get there and when to leave.
I know what to do when I’m there.
I know that Mr. Sophanne is happy where he is and can relax.

Last night brought 3 new kn-er’s. Yippee. Some of the old standards haven’t been back since the mother goose and queen of Debbie episode.

Claire suggested a KAL a few weeks ago and I bought the Great American Afghan book and convinced at least Chris and Claire to play. I think it was when I said “I’m going to KAL this afghan whether anyone joins me or not,” that Chris felt sorry for me and bought the book.

I’ve also got some relationship news. Purple and I might be hooking up. It’s a little early to tell and, of course, quite overwhelming, but purple’s been making eyes at me for the past few weeks and we exchanged some ideas about the afghan last night. Blue stepped in suggesting a wider spectrum. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Chartreuse and orange seriously thought they’d make a nice splash but I think that might be a little risqué.

On the medical front, Gina told us that “brain attack” is the new word for “stroke” in the world of medicine. Strokes aren’t one bit funny but calling it a “brain attack” cracks me up just a little.

Pictures of purple patterns when the sun peers through and I have the persistence to potograph- I mean photograph.
.

The Games We Play

This is a dog post.

I don't have a picture. The dog doesn't sit still until 9:30ish.

Right now she's entertaining herself with one of those cat toys where the ball is stuck inside a donut shaped plastic thing. We've put all of her toys in a container for her to pull out and "find." We've treated, chased, and frolicked in the sun.

And still- in an effort to be the perfect pet owner, I went on-line to see if there was more I could be doing. I googled Games for Dogs to Play. I found this site which includes a list of things that kids like to do with their dogs. I hope that I don't find myself resorting to what Gina (age 12) from New Mexico does:

Me and my dog, Snoopy, play a neat game. It's called 
'Round Them Up'. Here's what I do: I dress up like a cow, then I hide 
somewhere in the house. Next I say "Yahoo!". Snoopy will sniff for me and 
when he's just about to find me, I run down the hall mooing like a cow.
Snoopy will snap at my heels trying to put me in my room.Tip: It really only 
works with sheepdogs.

Plus Liza isn't really a sheep dog and I don't have a cow costume.

happy birthday!

Dr. Seuss

Dear August Self,

I know as you endure temperatures of 90 degrees with 95% humidity, you are longing for the weather pictured below, imagining it to be comforting and cozy. Just so you know, this stuff makes your brain as foggy as excessive heat so picture spring, picture fall, but DO NOT picture THIS:

Yes.

It is 9 outside. There is snow all about. My foggy brain is in cold weather hibernation. The phone rings at 7:10 a.m. The automated voice speaking for the superintendent of schools tells me that schools are closed today. The fog relaxes and spreads knowing that it has permission to stay the rest of the day. There might be an FO in my future.

And then there were four

Only four tonight, but what a fine four we were. Mr. Sophanne and I got home early because of inclement weather so it's a knit night post hot off the press.

Tonight's knit night story comes from a discussion of Liza Jane's impending spaying.

I said, "She's a girl dog. Why is she humping pillows?"

KNQD: For the same reason boy dogs do.

And then came the story of the lesson KNQD learned when she didn't have one of her dogs fixed. Said dog dug a hole in a bag of clothes in a closet, stole the t.v. remote, and the cordless phone (and possibly other things I didn't hear) and growled when the items were retrieved. Come to find poor puppy thought these items were her puppies and she had to undergo some medical treatment to relieve her of this stress. Can't you just hear it now- phone rings, Scooby Doo puppy voice on the other end says "Mama." Confused would be mama-dog looks at the remote and says, my little puppy, what a red eye you have. (all the better to change your channel with mama) After some guilt and a few weeks of re-training no one was permanently damaged in this incident. (unless KNQD indicates and or elaborates in the comments otherwise.)

One of the greatest parts of knit night tonight is that I got some knitting done. Halfway through the second Bird in Hand mittens. EXCEPT (and now comes THE best part of knit night) along the seam, where there should have been a brown stitch, there was a white one. Just about 14 rows down. On beyond my only amateur skills of picking up and fixing stitches. KNQD says "give it here", and in a matter of seconds it is fixed.

As a girl who's had to do everything for herself in the big picture in life, this little act of "Here, let me help you." was just about the greatest thing that's happened to me in a long time.

I've got issues

and I'm not even counting those. Gifts are shown because I probably would have purchased them at some point anyway. Magazines are not- for no good reason. Not pictured are the 2 books on Latvian knitting I ordered from Amazon last week.

First the Big Picture



Books for the Designer



I'd like to report that these are recent purchases, but no. Instead, once I go the hang of knitting and purling, I was fairly sure I'd be off designing in no time. After all, I read Knit and Tonic. I feel pretty good that I have read or used everything pictured (except the 2007 calendar-which was a gift.) at least once.

Books for Help



The Vogue book has been the go-to book since day 1. The knitting basics book- not so much- it was purchased before I paid attention to anything. The top four are purchases I don't regret but I use sparingly. Why look at a book for help when it's so much fun to try to figure it our yourself or take it to knit night. The book of finishing techniques was an especially good buy for the girl trying to seam a sweater.

Books of patterns/techniques



Love the Ann Budd Books.

Haven't done one damn knitted toy but it's a cute book.

The Interweave Knits was a purchase to prevent me from purchasing every last back issue there ever was since I've only been knitting fro 3 years or so.

Simply Beatiful Sweaters, Silk Knits, Freeform Knitting and Crochet, and Module Magic are up for grabs. MAKE ME AN OFFER. These looked so much like something I'd be interested in and then I discovered various facts about myself that make them useless.

Smaller Project Books


These were mostly purchased when I was looking for something inspiring while working on boring stockinette of some larger project. The only one I've actually made anything from is the Messenger Bag in Knitting for Peace (and we all know how that worked out.) The top one (bad photography) was a recent acquisition Scarf Style. Not pictured was the Folk Hats purchase from a few weekends ago. Nope haven't knitted anything from it either.

Stephanie, Socks and one trashy-a$$ed novel



Yea, I succumbed to yet another yes, you too can knit too socks with the magic loop temptation. That was a recent purchase. I've used two of the sock leaflets pictured. Mostly just one, I have it memorized and I grab patterns from the sensational socks book except wait- I mostly use only one pattern from that book row 1 k3 p3 row 2 k1 p1. Not sure I needed the book to figure that one out but there lies so much potential in it.

No need to explain the Yarn Harlot books ( I have the meditation one hiding around somewhere too.) Has anyone read the one on top- Cast on, Bets off? It started with a sex scene that seemed to be written by a horny man and I haven't gotten past that.

The EZ collection



Also included is a book on scandinavian knitting and one by Meg Swansen. I've made a moeibus. That's about it. I watched the first episode about making a hat on the dvd but haven't followed through. But I feel like I can't be called a "real" knitter if I don't own those.

It's refreshing to relieve myself (somewhat) of the truth in my books. I've used more of them than I thought I had. It's the ones that I haven't used that nag and laugh at me every time I buy a pattern on-line or look for the latest book at the LYS.

I know I'm preaching to the choir when I suggest that these all were "MUST HAVES" at the time I purchased them. Feel free to reassure me. Also if you have a successful FO from any of them, tell me about it. I'm a copycat mostly.

More Importantly- If there are any "MUST HAVE" books that are missing from my collection, PLEASE DO SHARE!

ETA~ As if all of these weren't enough, KNQ Debbie just sent me THIS link guess I'll spend some time printing today.

stay tuned

Having just had one of those PMS, I have a $100 bill, I think I'll stop at Barnes and Noble moments, it suddenly occurred to me that it might be interesting to find out the "knitting books to items knitted from them" ratio. (kbtikftR) I'm feeling a CMUNS (crack me up not Saturday) post in the near future.

wip saturday

Nothing much to crack me up this Saturday- except maybe I was a little embarrassed every time I clicked and saw the wee willie warmer and thus have avoided the blog since Wednesday.



Pictured- Bird In Hand (in cashmere) sans thumb. I figure my odds at a decent thumb will improve if I do them together.

The start of Karendipity's marvelous mitts in Lorna's Laces. The main color will be "china blue" the other is a variegated Lorna's Lace.

The first round of the Lettuce Leaf Scarf done in Stitchjones' Dark and Divine. Reading the chart has become easier- especially with the color coding. I didn't make any mistakes until row 17 (of 18) and I'm going to make sure I have the called for 60 stitches and try the next repeat. Mostly becuase I'm tired of frogging this thing every time I make a mistake I can't find.

This chart reading requires a different kind of attention but I'm starting to find some tricks that work I'm loving the challenge of something new.

the answer to the knit night riddle

This is not a sock- it was one of the shared moments at knit night. (not in action)



There was some discussion of Flight-Attendant-Mary's airline employer who's motto we believe is now "We're not Happy until you're Unhappy."

There was also talk of a knit night KAL a great idea from Claire. (possibly one with the above motto involved-but maybe not)

There were three Mary's there. Flight Attendant Mary, Make Me Laugh Mary-Mac, and I Am Going to Demand Every Second of Knit Night Queen Debbie's Time Mary. (Mary Queen of Debbie as opposed to Queen of Scots?)

Is it just me, or do the voices of the talking yarns get louder when you have fewer wips? I resisted because there are several possibilities in the stash but I fear they will get louder still.

why yes, there was knit night

but it's too late to post- instead I'll give you a teaser-

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town
Upstairs, downstairs in his nightgown
Rapping at the windows, tapping at the locks
"Are all the children in their beds? It's past eight o'clock."

Your job? Take guesses as to how that could relate to knit night. More after the pix arrive.

Monday Morning Puppy Musings (with deference to Romi)

I believe that with her limited knowledge of human vocabulary (don't eat the cat being the newest acquisition) the puppy, when she hears the Amy Winehouse Rehab song, believes that rehab=collar.

In addition to the paw raising and the tail pointing, there is further evidence that the puppy is a bird dog- she pulled the needles and a row from the Bird in Hand mittens. Fortunately I was able to save them.



I must say that this is an excellent pattern for stranded knitting newbies (as opposed to the stag bag I thought I could knit and which now lies in a puddle of green.) Any frustrations caused by holding some yarn in the left hand are immediately eased when said hand comes into contact with the cashmere. If you happen to click on the stag bag link, you'll see the blueberry handspun- it's a sleeve and a half away from being "Wicked."

The Grinch

The forces of nature coming together to make this happen: Misti Alpaca Bulky green, Ann Budd book of sweater patterns, 365 stitches a year slipped rib stitch (the "wrong" side), garter stitch, size 10 needles, 4 stitches/inch, Boris Karloff, Dr. Suess.

I can now see why people who live in cold mountainous areas with alpacas can remain warm and without frostbite. This is the warmest fabric I've ever worn. The sleeves are turned up for those wondering about the sleestack effect.

CMUS-only it continues to be early

If the expression on my face alone doesn't crack you up, then the fact that I'm making it at 5 year olds should.

If that's not enough then how 'bout that Lion Brand Homespun Granny Square Poncho I've got going on because it was so flipping cold that day.

This is a picture of a picture- hence the flashpoint. I swear kids are smiling at me (and not just in fear)

Somehow the drum adds something to it- maybe because I try to imagine kmkat having one in her accounting cubicle.



Feel free to inser your own LOL ICANHSCHZBGR caption in the comments.

and then there's this

I started those bird in hand mittens by Kate Gilbert and some yummy cashmere

That Mr. Sophanne

He sure knows how to turn a day around. Then he said, "I have nothing but good thoughts about you, no matter what you think of yourself." There's a guy that knows his wife.

Grinch be done and S&M K Meme

Don't let your mind go there. I'm starting a meme. It has no rules. S&M K stands for Sid and Marty Kroft. You don't have to play. I won't be tagging you. But, as always, it cracks me up a little bit. Here is a partial list of SMK shows I found on Wikpedia:
Red = loved 

Yellow= hated 

Gray=don't remember the details help me out.

The Bay City Rollers Show (1978; aka The Krofft Superstar Hour Starring the Bay City Rollers)
The Krofft Supershow (1978)
Bigfoot and Wildboy (1977)
The Brady Bunch Hour (1977)
Wonderbug (1976)
Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976)
Dr. Shrinker (1976)
Donny & Marie (1976; aka The Osmond Family Show)
The Lost Saucer (1975)
Far Out Space Nuts (1975)
Land of the Lost (1974)
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973)
Lidsville (1971)
The Bugaloos (1970)
Pufnstuf (1970)
H.R. Pufnstuf (1969)

I can't believe that Shazam and Oh Mighty Isis weren't on the list.  I wonder who thought of them. (loved them both)

Grinch is resting ends will be woven soon and photos to follow.  Don't want to rush things.

me allergic? not so much.

Unless you're talking about that itchy thing you get in the back of your throat when someone has gone overboard on the perfume or say when your working with alpaca that has been steamed.

I've attached one sleeve to the Grinch and while it's a little early to predict, that delusion idea I had about using the slipped stitch ribbing to add stability to hopefully decrease the vertical stretch also added a good bit of weight to increase the vertical stretch.

What started out as just below the waist may turn into one of the robes the Grand Sleestax from Land of the Lost might wear if there were such things. Look ma, no hands.

And yet- it's going to be soft, warm, and green. It may be that rare fo that looks terrible but that I like anyway. If it's really really terrible, I may gently shrink felt it.

What with a snow day and all today, I may just finish it up- if I can face it.

PGH k&c the haul.

A swift that's not an umbrella. It "disassembles" and doesn't need clamped to the table. It's like a lazy susan. Pretty ingenious. Maybe a little not as "perfect" as an umbrella swift but it may be user error.


A Royal ball winder. I wound some cherry tree hill from my stash and have a yarn cake. I think there's a bit of a learning curve in that as well.

400 yds of brown cashmere and 400 yds of white cashmere- Yea, if you're a LYS and you have cashmere under $30, I'm your resident sucker. I'm thinking I'm going to follow some EZ directions for hat and mittens. I still have some unused green cashmere so I may be on to something. (I'd like to point out that I had enough sense to christen the ball winder with something OTHER than this cashmere in spite of every inner voice calling me to do otherwise.)

A "fiber sampler" from a shop that is relatively close and will be at the Waynesburg S and F festival. I don't know what I love yet and this will be a good way to find out.

Some not green (red-ish) sock yarn called "Melody."

Underneath the blue tag is a "yarn keeper bracelet" made by Humes of Delaware. Another ingenious invention (this one more reasonably priced) I'll get a better picture when Mr. Sophanne is around. Mostly the yarn cake can hang from your wriste by way of latchy things and wires with wooden balls at the end of them.

I also purchased the Folk Hats by Vickie Square. I think the hat that Mr. Sophanne wants is a sort of pillbox/cossack design.

The festival itself was overwhelming for this newbie. So much yarn, so many possibilities. So not a clue as to what I wanted to look at or where I wanted my knitting to go after the purchases. I guess that's why I went for the luxury. Then I didn't end up getting as much. I've learned that when negotiating quality and quantity, my tendency in stash enhancement is on the quality end. I'd rather have 4 skeins of cashmere than ten skeins of cascade.

The space itself was very crowded. But that will change as the location is moving next year. I was secretly hoping for a giant ballroom where there would be tables and tables of knit night like knitting to check out. This happened on a small scale but not as much as I had expected. It kind of felt like a missed opportunity. If you're not taking a class you pay $15 to be allowed to buy stuff?

This did not put a damper on knit-night like conversations. As I passed one store I heard a woman say "I'm going to blow up her house, it's all I can do." Passing another booth I heard "How do you catch a unique rabbit? U neek up on him." Now I've heard that joke plenty of times but not so much in passing at a festival.

Just when you thought

Just when you thought you had CMUS(F) wrapped up, life happened and there was a double dose. After an afternoon of whacked out kids, I spent the 25 minute car ride home trying hard not to be cranky. I came home to this:







Totally impossible to get my crank on.

This Is My Job. CMUS(F)

2nd grade teachers are doing a unit on American Scientists and inventors. They came to me and asked me if I had any songs about inventors.

me in my head: Yea, let me just dig up one of those Wright Brothers or Thomas Edison songs written for 2nd grade abilities. It will be so hard to choose which one to use.

me out loud: hmmm. Peter Paul and Mary's The Marvelous Toy might feel like an invention. We could also build our own invented beat machine.

In honor of good old American Ingenuity- (both mine and the Masters') I share with you Mrs. Stiles's Beat Machine Invention. Please realize that I get paid for this job. Kmkat how I envy your cubicle. If it takes too long or is a pain to load- skip it. You can catch it in reruns. HEY! With my new non-celebrity celebrity I wonder if Hollywood Insider wants a copy of this? Or maybe Letterman for stupid pet kid tricks.

further developments

Knit'nat's knit night discussed why skunks are the banana peels of the animal kingdom. This seems to me comparable to discussing Wiccan lumberjacks. She's also looking to share a ride to the MDSW so it looks like I'm making a plan.

It's a little scary making plans with friends you haven't met yet but if she's meeting up with Yarny Old Kim another blogger at the top of the list of MUST MEET BLOGGERS, it's got to have some potential and yippee for not driving alone.

I'm skipping an Orff workshop (usually most awesome professional development opportunity) this weekend to go to Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. This makes me so happy. It feels like "skipping school" only not and I am so guilt-free about it. It's good to be over 40.

So this Portland fan club gathering-I'm thinking that an easy access public place on the evening of July 8 would be ideal. Not being familiar with the area I'll leave it to someone wise to set a time and place.

I wouldn't be pursuing it so much but then QuailHillKnits said When are you going to be in Portland? My home in Washington is 3 1/2 hours up the road. Maybe a bunch of the bloggers could figure out a way to meet up.

I may be dragging some family along- (hopefully not kicking and screaming) but it seems to me that I'll be spending the next week playing grandMOther so a little "me time" before it all would certainly be appropriate.

And Olga suggests that I print a few books (not sure what I'd put in them but how hard is it to make something up) and sign them to make it feel like a book signing. Uber- it does sound fun!

k.n.a.

knit.night.again.

Does it really matter who said what when you have a conversation like this?

What is Wicca?

M calls them "treehuggers."

I don't feel comfortable having a conversation about something none of us know anything about. There are probably right wing wiccans and left wing wiccans like anything else.

Some people call it a religion. Others think it's more about spirituality. It depends on how you look at it.

Yea, there are probably some Lumberjack Wiccans out there.

Oh how I love knit night.

Knit Night Debbie has an African Gray Parrot. K.N. Jennifer also has bird(s). Riley (Debbie's bird) says this to her husband "I like that shirt." Then when he's just far enough away it says "You have something on the back of your shirt." Jennifer's birds have learned to make the kitty feeding time noises. "Here kitty kitty."

There was also some discussion on restless leg syndrome, Parkinsons Disease, Bells Palsy and something to do with the 5th nerve ending and the terribleness of nerve pain. Because Claire, the pharmacist was counting, we referred to Darla for all things medical. Darla's medical background is limited to her personal experience but she's very reliable so far.

Come to find a toilet paper roll works for ball winding as I had experimented with only you're supposed to stay on the sides of it, (not cover the tubey ends as I did) and then take the roll out. I knew I was on to something but somehow got lost in the mechanics. This should surprise no one.


When I came home I found a comment on my travel post from the most recent yarn wholesaler Sharon who noticed that I would be traveling to Portland OR this summer and said, Sophanne is coming to Portland this summer?! Girl, let me buy you a drink! At which point I became giddy and delusional and decided that maybe I could have a fan club and that I could meet all my west coast blog friends this summer and we'd start out small and eventually it would become the most famous Chickenlips and Sophanne Fiber festival and people would flock from miles around.

I also began to wonder if, like the knitting cruises, there could be knitting train trips. There's no better place to knit than on a train. A pile o knit-bloggers reserving business class of Amtrak on certain days knitting their way across country and back.

All it takes is a little knit night action for this brain to start sparking.

odds and ends

Compulsive on-line buying and refraining from fiber purchases landed me at Joanne's buying one of these. A Namaste Jetsetter (for under $50-I'm guessing it's a discontinued color)I am such a bag-ho. I figured with upcoming (o.k. 6 months from now) travel, it's never too soon to find the perfect bag.

Did you catch Puppy Bowl IV? What serious puppy fun with a kitty half-time. It was a cracking me up and convincing me of the amount of Jack Russell in Liza Jane.

One sleeve is done. One to go

'member that other time when..

the Sophanne vacation (look at some July posts if you care to) involved a plane to Seattle, a train to Portland and back, a train to Vancouver and back and then a plane home?

One of the truths about life here is that vacations very often involve various forms of transportation. It would seem that getting there is half the fun (at least for half here in this house.)

One Thanksgiving (because of family obligations and a need to go to the National Archives) we drove to Baltimore, took a train to Charlottesville VA, took a bus (because we thought it was going to be a train) to Washington DC, train to Baltimore and drove home from there.

This summer is gearing up to stretch the limits of planes trains and automobiles as we've thus far known it.

1. Train to Portland
2. Rental car to Seattle
3. Rental car on a ferry to a condo on San Juan Island for a week.
4. Return on ferry.
5. Rental car to Portland
6. Airplane to the 'burg.

The hows of travel to the train station and home from the airport will be figured out later on but thems the plans. Mr. Sophanne still thinks a train ride with the grandchildren somewhere in there is possible.

This all came about as a result of the "free tickets" we got from US Air on the last trip home from Seattle. Don't even get me started on how "free" can be reinterpreted when you're an overbooked airline.

Remember that time when...

Those of you who have been reading my ruminations for a while might remember this conversation about the knitting terms "after every 4th" vs. "every 4 rows." as in:
1
2
3
4
inc

OR

1st
2nd
3rd
4th inc

That little puzzle has revisited the Grinch sleeves in a Knitting Goddess Vengeful Laughing sort of way.

Ann Budd's directions read Then inc 1 st each end of the needle every 6 rows 9 times.

Based on the last sweater's mistake (going 1 2 3 inc instead of 1 2 3 4 inc) where I ended up with shortish widish elephant sleeves, I looked VERY closely at Ann Budd's directions and knit 1 2 3 4 5 6 increase (several times-as well as 1 2 3 4 increase which happened earlier in the directions) I have finished the row of increases and not even started the cap and have 22" instead of the suggested 18". The cap is going to make for at least another 2" if not more.

But Sophanne, why didn't you measure the sleeves along the way? Because I was in the Knitting Black Hole and didn't want to jinx myself and make it go slower.

Common sense says to save this frog project until knit night and find out if there are alternate solutions. And yet I'm off to frog.

Maybe the reason I can't quit green is because I do so much frogging. Next thing you know I'll be addicted to African Tree Frog colors.

p.s. this is Not a CMUS post. Did I mention that I was knitting 2 sleeves at a time?

Groouuund haawwg

Dear Jill Trinka, If you happen to see this and are opposed to it being posted, contact me immediately and I will remove it. Otherwise, I believe that there is a vast audience of bloggers that do not know about the existence of this song and I like to have an informed readership.

If you can't read it if you click it or don't care to, I'll just tell you that verse 9 is my favorite. "Up stepped Sal with with a snigger and a grin x3... Groundhog grease all over her chin."

To some of you this may be CMUS. To the music teachers, it's just another day at the office!

ETA If you don't need the melody or you can't embiggen-here are the words.

Whet up your knives and whistle up your dog (x2)
We're off to the hills to catch a groundhog
Whack-fol-did-le ol-ly day.

Too many rocks and too many logs x2
Too much trouble for an old groundhog
Whack-fol-did-le ol-ly day.

Over the hills and through the brush x2
Boys, I see that hog sign fresh
Whack-fol-did-le ol-ly day.

Up stepped Barry with a ten-foot pole x2
To roust that groundhog out of its hole
Whack-fol-did-le ol-ly day.

Work boys work for all you can earn x2
Will skin 'im in the loft and tan 'im in the churn
Whack-fol-did-le ol-ly day.

Work boys work just as heard as you can tear x2
The meat'll do to eat and the skin'll do to wear
Whack-fol-did-le ol-ly day.

Took 'im by the tail and laid 'im on the log x2
Swear to my soul he's a very fine hog
Whack-fol-did-le ol-ly day.

Put 'im in the pot and the younguns gonna smile x2
Ate that groundhog 'fore it struck a bile
Whack-fol-did-le ol-ly day.

Up stepped Sal with a snigger and a grin x2
Groundhog grease all over her chin
Whack-fol-did-le ol-ly day.

So whet up your knives and whistle up your dogs x2
We're off to the hills to catch a groundhog
Whack-fol-did-le ol-ly day.

winter-ference

Life interfered with knit night.

The dog is interfering with knitting progress.
"Pick a Spot" has been replaced by "Drop it" and "Down" as words most likely heard in the House of Sophanne.

I taught a mom and her 13 yo son to knit after school today. He didn't bring any needles- he might have been spotted with them. He learned to knit on pencils. Freshly sharpened pencils are good at preventing slipping Noro. They don't keep their points quite as nice as addis though.

I've cast on and frogged 9 rows of the Lettuce Leaf Scarf twice so far. Wise lace-knitters are saying that it's like algebra. If that is the case, it makes perfect sense. I always understood the concepts- I just couldn't get past the details.

The Ice Storm Cometh- or so I'm hoping.

That's all I've got.

Why yes, I DO knit

Amidst all of of this meme-ing and tagging and cmus-ing, it strikes me that a little knitting content would not be inappropriate.

First up- "The Grinch." My first designing attempt- the sleeves are on the needles. Ann Budd is guiding me through this.

I was tempted to change the name to "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie," as most of it has been finished after puppy is asleep on the lap. This is the tv/couch knit. Right now it's moved from process to product. I want to wear it and I'm still naive enough to believe I might make a sweater that looks the way it did in my head before it came into being.














Second- Wicked #2. This is the handspun I bought at the Waynesburg Sheep and Fiber Festival last summer. I believe it has committed itself to a pocketless long-sleeved Wicked and am hoping for the best.










The knitting in my head is much too vast for one post but:

After yet another 6 stitch error on the go at mangled joke, it returns to time out. Recognizing that I suck at reading charts I wrote out the row pattern. I felt a lot more relaxed while knitting it but the results were the same.

I bought some fingering weight hand-dyed "Dark and Divine" from ChickenLips/Stitchjones/Mymommadethis and am thinking about this pattern as recommended by Sharon but I believe it must simmer for a little longer.

There is some Lorna's Lace waiting to be frogged and tried again in the Print-o-the waves stole. The fearless knitter button on my sidebar is really there as a reminder saying "hey- you Can and Will read Lace Charts before the Year Ends."

I'm still frogging every sock I start for one reason or another. There must be a reason it's called the SUMMER of Socks.

And now back to our daily ridiculousness

Books? Who reads Books anymore?

O.k. not really but I've certainly decreased the number of books I make it through since this knitting obsession took hold. I used to devour them like a glutton at a buffet bar in P.K. (Pre Knit) Now they're the hors d'oeuvres that you eat when you're on a diet. I'll only indulge in the ones with cream cheese and don't bother with the chips and dip.

I've now been tagged twice for the page 161 sentence 5 meme that's going around. That means I get to give two page 161's. (though I guess I could have gone to page 322 instead.) I can't just have one thing at the bedside so I'm picking up the two most recent reads.

From Viktor E. Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning I was actually ON page 161 which was the afterword written by William J. Winslade.

"Frankl's comment hints at the reasons why Man's Search for Meaning has such a powerful impact on many readers"

The other comes from Pat Miller's book The Power of Positive Dog Training

"The target stick works really well in place of coddling."

The first book was a powerful read and one I would recommend to anyone-but especially to any blog friends who are a little more intimate with depression than they'd care to be.

The second one has offered some guidance but I was not able, as I had hoped, to give it to the dog to read so that she would know what to do and not to do. So it goes

Full Moon Update

Signs that the full moon is having an effect on your husband. He chants "Purl and Puck, Purl and Puck" on the way to bed. When questioned about it he says, "Isn't that what you do with those two sticks? Purl and Puck." (Damn, why didn't I say Purl and Poke and let him have it?) I said "It's knit and purl. What is Puck? He said "I made it up."

I looked away for a second or two (to find that Yarnhog's jumped on the CPH train) and he calls my attention to him again with both hands nearly up one nostril saying "Uh, honey, can you help me?" and promptly pulls a giant chewed piece of nicorette gum from his nose.

That moon is beautiful but I'm glad it's waning.

NNNfm

It's a double meaning abbreviation today.

No Nit Nite for me

and

No one Nearing Normal full moon.

Ice and snow and freezing rain kept us from venturing out to "Vice Alley" (also known as the LYS and the casino). The puppy was psychotic all evening. Kids were jumping out of their skin all day yesterday.

Three different bloggers either posted full moon pictures or reminded me of nature's way of saying don't take your bad self too seriously.

I'm just relieved to have it all explained.

ETA And I've picked up the mangled joke tangled yoke.

I humbly accept...

Suzanne a.k.a. Yarnhog was one of the earliest readers when I came to blogland- many great laughs were had at my continuing saga of the ill-fated messenger bag. She has awarded me the:







And now, as part of my award, I get to pass the award on to ten bloggers who make my day. According to the instructions, I am supposed to: "Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

While the truth of the matter is, I'd be lost without my ever-growing list of favorite Google Reader blogs, these are 10 of the ones that I look forward to regularly (in no particular order and realizing that there could only be 10)

Penny Karma at Behold My Brilliance
Ruth at 5elementknitr
Joan the Fairy Godknitter
Jenn and Rufus a.k.a. WeirdyPants
kmkat
Magatha
Christine the Dark and Divine Flutter
Lydee my teaching friend
Carol at the knitting-knot
Sunflower Fairy

and of course...

Yarnhog

Go forth fine Bloggers and share your friends with us.

Hooray to all of us who make Blogland real.

f-o-rama

There's the Thorpe earflap hat, the mittens from an Ann Norling 4 needle pattern and a giant sweater made of Rowan Big Wool. This is the one with the elephant sleeves- note the power of a proper pose. Really I could just have put some knitted fabric over me and called it a sweater in this pose, but when Mr. Sophanne has agreed to snap pictures in single digits temperatures, it's best not to insist on the details.

The hat's a little big but will come in handy. I didn't use chunky yarn that was called for. I did use needles that were a little larger. I may frog a few rows or I may just leave it as is.

knitday- hooray

It was a knitting machine demonstration at the Knit Shoppe. Mark loves his knitting machine because it makes quality knitted fabric quickly and creatively. I'm glad he loves it but I am not a convert. I love knitting because it makes my hands happy. The knitting machine reminds me of ironing. I might end up with not as many and not as high quality knitted items but it takes a different person than I to love a knitting machine and that's what makes the world an interesting place. The whole concept and mechanics of it were cool to see. If I had to knit for profit, it would be my tool of choice.

Also a part of the day was an extra few hours at the LYS. ( I offered to do a demonstration on green next Saturday but there didn't seem to be too many takers.) I started a top down lamb's Pride pistachio green earflap hat (called Thorpe from some undocumented blog) and it should be a quick knit. It will also match my mittens (which required moderately successful post dog-nip surgery)

One other lesson learned was that if you're not much of a meat eater because of the whole cow thing, veal parmesan might not be something to order for dinner no matter what the waitress says. Did you ever accidentally order crawdads (also known as crayfish, spoondogs, or yabbies if you're Australian) because you love seafood and you didn't know they would show up on your plate with their heads attached? That's kind of what the whole veal experience was for me. There weren't any signs of former life other than the pictures in my head but that was way too much. No veal for me.

Wednesday is the beckyknitstoo blog-o-versary. Reading Wendy Bernard's Knit and Tonic is what started it all and once was the only knitting blog I read until I figured out how to find the others through the comments- I give myself an "A" in Blogging Year One for the "must please the teacher" part of my personality.

hi it's me again

o.k. so when cmus blog fodder rains, it pours.

After feeling pictured alpaca (that would be the left front of the 65% finished Grinch Cardigan) Mr. Sophanne said, "Wow, I could live in this. Can you make alpaca underwear?"

I think he was humoring me but it cracked me up anyway. After asking him if he just wanted to get put on the blog he said, "yes" I'm guessing he made the fist to show you how strong he is.

be still my heart

The new student teacher paid a visit today. She starts on the 28th. After seeing a handmade crocheted scarf I said, "oh yeah, I knit." She said "Me Too! I have every size needle there is. My grandma taught me when I was 7! My fiance's mother made my scarf as a present"

I have yet to reveal the vastness of my addiction- but I'm pretty sure the squeal of glee gave a little bit of it away.

CMUS (once again posted on Friday)

Certainly everyone is familiar with the "dinnertime admonition"

There are people starving in _____________(name your third world country)who would be glad to eat your food."

This phrase has been amended in the Sophanne house specifically for the New Puppy.

There are plenty of people in ____________________(name your third world country) who would love to eat YOU for dinner.

Mr. Sophanne is a s funny as his name suggests.

Dear Blog Friends,

Is it just me, or is this blogland a real place? Yesterday's knit night post was lame lame lame and yet my friends sensed the lack of excitement and made me laugh at the words Mr. Sophanne anyway.

I am not a comment 'ho. I leave comments if I have something to say- I don't expect them if I haven't written anything "commentable." But you come through like the good friends that you are, letting me know that everything's o.k. and life is good and none of us are really alone on the planet.

Hey Blog Friends,

THANKS

k.n.

Ten Rows is Ten Rows. (circs or straights)

Jewelry from 1970 is not really antique.

Green, I can't quit you.

that's all I got except I was so absorbed with knit night events, I missed the exit to pick up Mr. Sophanne and had to turn around a go back and get him.

The Answers

1 alphabet
2 battle of Troy
3 democracy "invented"
4 great wall of china
5 Jesus
6 gunpowder
7 vikings
8 christopher columbus
9 American Revolution
10 Light bulb invented (as opposed to when electricity was discovered)
11 Civil War
12 WW I
13 WWII
14 Vietnam War
15 Mrs. Sophannes b-day
16 Disco (some of you were too kind)
17 Internet in schools
18. Iraq War

Crate in the van.
Emergency bag packed including
-puppy pad
-food
-water
-interesting puppy toys

Thoughts to self. This looks like packing when mamas take babies somewhere.

Notice anything missing?

Change of clothes after puppy gets car sick. I was holding her on my lap. Just 20 minutes earlier (before the pit stop) I had been protected by the fleece jacket on my lap. When we returned to the car, I knew there was a good reason for that, but not knowing what it was, decided it was too warm.

Puppy has good taste- pukes only on the best- that would be the Malabrigo Wicked worn to show off knitting skills to temporarily disabled aunt.

Lost? The L.L. bean jeans that are my "comfort jeans". Well not really lost just bi-colored thanks to well-meaning Mr. Sophanne who thought the easiest way to clean the pants was with a window squeegee at the gas station. Come to find that seems to rub it in. I did not let him go this route on Wicked and it is blocking now. It needed to be blocked anyway.

Won? The hearts of the nursing home/rehab residents. Lil Liza was on her best behavior and one wheelchair bound woman who appeared to suffer from delirum just petted and laughed and petted and laughed. I think I know what our summer plans should be.

A New Game

I'll post my answers (not guaranteed correct as they came from some goofy internet timeline) to yesterdays Smarter than a 5th Grader on Sunday night in case any of you are wondering how you did.

Today however, is a new game I made up for myself. Remember the song "Man of Constant Sorrow" from O Brother Where Art Thou? (most recently that is) If I were going to write my own theme songs, one would definitely be "Sophanne of Constant Worry." So I made up a game called "Before I can do that."

Good reason says, don't worry about what's going to happen because it never turns out that way anyway blah blah blah. BUT, actually moving from out there to now is not always so easy. "Before I can do That" helps that process for me.

A mental example- "oh man- I'm the chair of a safe schools meeting on Tuesday morning and I don't know what we have to talk about. Before I can do thatI have to go to school on Monday. Before I can do that I have to go to the grocery store on Sunday. Before I can do thatI have to finish this blog post. Before I can do that I have to finish this sentence." You get the idea.

Today it's an adventure to visit the Aunt who broke both her shoulders. Puppykins is going with us. Let the adventure begin.

Smarter than a 5th grader? CMUS

My favorite "theme" to take on with 5th graders in January is the story of Ulysses. We make up dances that go with the stories and play and listen to music to accompany them. There are obviously many life lessons learned from these stories as well and there is just enough of a suggestion of battle and adventure to lure in even the coolest of 5th graders.

To begin this unit, I want to make sure that they have some concept of a timeline of the History of the World. Much as I'd like to watch Mel Brooks and his version- totally not appropriate for school.

Instead, I gave them the following list of events and asked them to put them in order. Do the best you can without cheating- no google help (if you care to) and see how close you come. I'll post the answers in a later post.

As to whether you are smarter than a 5th graders, I will only say that if you are aware of the fact that I, Sophanne, was born AFTER Christopher Columbus, and you recognize that the Viet Nam war (at least the one most often spoken of) did NOT happen immediately after the Battle of Troy, then you are smarter than Monday's 5th grade.

1. Battle of Troy
2. Alphabet invented
3. U.S. Civil War
4. American Revolution
5. World War II
6. Viet Nam War
7. Birth of Jesus
8. Vikings (not the Minnesota kind)
9. Gunpowder invented
10. Great Wall of China built
11. Christopher Columbus voyage to North America
12. Disco
13. Mrs. Sophanne's Birthday
14. Schools have internet access
15. Iraq War
16. Concept of Democracy "invented"
17. Invention of the Electric Light Bulb
18. World War II

p.s. on knit night--- Mr. Knit Night is going to demonstrate his knitting machine at The Knit Shoppe in Canonsburg from 10:00-4:00 if you are interested and nearby!

kkkkkkknnnnnniiiiittttt nnnnniiiiitttttteeeee

I have no creative compositional technique for this knit night post. But it was great and then a little bit better.

Claire and I have made plans to go to the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. If you check out the link, tell me what saturday a.m. thing to go to. If you're going, I'll have my Ravelry button that says "Sophanne."

There was also some discussion of getting a Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival posse together. Woo hoo!

KNQ Debbie Cut. Her. Steeks. RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! I watched someone cut a sweater. A very colorful stranded knitting sweater. When she finished I shouted "What They Say is True!" Nothing unravelled.

In just the way they say you can't hold space, you can't find the Buddha, so it is with knit night. Once you put words to it, it becomes something else.

ALSO!!!!!! Hooray for SnuffyWump and her Beautiful Smelling Soap that was a Prize. (Capitol Letters are my NEW favorite thing.) It is delicious. If you haven't before, do go visit her blog. She posted about high school freshman Kyrin (DD?) who wrote a letter to the author Tom Robbins AND he wrote back. Thanks Snuffywump!

D.O.N.T. C.R.Y.

Don't Cry Don't Cry DON'T CRY DoNt cRy.

Nothing sad to report. Just a vent of sorts.

To Whom It May Concern-

If I want to whimper, weep, sob, wail, mew, or bark when something happens in this thing called Life, I will be doing it.

If my favorite cook, who has fed me for the last Ten Years, is retiring, I am ALLOWED to have a tear or two because I'll miss her. She Fed me whenever I was Hungry. She Knew whether or not I needed to Eat before I did. This does not mean I am not happy for her. I am. You Smarty-Pa-Tarties who go 'round sayin' "d--'- c--," can do whatever you want. I'm guessing she knows how I FEEL about it.

Furthermore, if there is additional change that may or may not take place in my Life that either makes me Really Happy or Really Sad, I reserve the right to Bawl My Eyes out at the Beauty and the Sorrow.

P.S. I don't walk around and tell you "Hey you Thoughtless Moron, How Come You Aren't Crying?"

We now return to our regularly scheduled blog.

an adventure?

Not so much. I was going to make up a story about how we went to an exotic land where we couldn't understand the language. Husband wanted me to put a freak snowstorm in it. It also involved a bazaar haggling over mysterious bargains with peculiar merchants.

What we really did was go to Gabes for some shopping and a late lunch at Old Mexico.

I appreciated the suggestions that I go yarn shopping. Options are limited when you live in the 'burg, so I did the next best thing. I found "The.Perfect.Bag" for my dpns and short needles. Mind you I have the really cool needle holders from Joannes but they're so organized and cumbersome. I present to you this week's Perfect.Bag.

There's a post a-brewing on the very concept of The.Perfect.Bag, but I have still to gather my thoughts. Is this quest a terminal condition experienced only by travelers and knitters I wonder? Oh the bags I have to share.





Puppy news- today she joined me in the shower. Is this gross? Is it an opportunity for puppy wash time? What's the appropriate etiquette? Should I have asked these questions prior to fessing up? Also the latest keep puppy occupied trick is a thin layer peanut butter spread along the inside of the plastic peanut butter jar. (realized after giving her the last of the peanut butter.) ONLY if this causes certain death do I want any warnings. This gave me 45 minutes of quality blog time.

looking for fodder

I'm in the middle of three not so small projects and when you're there it feels like you're not really knitting anything. I'm on the brink of making mistakes on sleeves and shoulders but only close enough to dread it rather than deal with it. Someone (something) has put a voodoo hex on my sock mojo. Every time I get about 2.5 inches into the sock I drop a stitch that can't be found.

Also there have been few adventures around here. Puppy was 5lbs on the first vet visit and is 13.2 lbs now and doesn't have worms. That's all the news that is the news.

I told husband we have to go do something tomorrow so that there's something to post about. He said he was glad he was good for something. He must have forgotten that he gave the puppy a bath.

puppy woes

Someone please tell me that there is an end to this constant need for attention, nipping at the hands (stopped only by household members baring their teeth and growling) and general mischievousness. Also making up songs and singing them to the pets is not abnormal behavior and happens here quite often.

Three Cheers!

One Cheer for anyone who did the snow dance yesterday. It worked and vacation has been exteneded.

A second cheer for TCM on comcast that has the goofiest creepiest collection of black and white movies on this morning.


A final cheer for the glass head that models my stocking cap knitting skills. I could wait no longer for the actual recipient! What appears to be yellow is actually overexposed lime green.

Mysteries solved and unsolved

Mystery #1 Why I'll never run out of blog material-
Yesterday with puppy and husband in the passenger seat, husband was talking to the puppy.

There's a gray truck. There's another black car like mine. There's Burger King- you remember Burger King- you've seen the commercials.

Mystery #2 What to do about stinky boy bedtime farts. Lots of Burt's Bee's hand lotion and put your hands near your head as you try to go to sleep. Note: this does nothing to quiet snoring.

Mystery #3 (as yet unsolved) How to properly knit a thumb on a mitten. Aargh. Any tips would be welcome. I'm hating those big honkin holes.