Tagged

I was tagged by Jen D for the Seven Random Things meme. The rules are you have to list 7 random things about yourself and then tag 7 others, directing them to your site to get the rules.

Here goes:
1. I have a fear of elevators. I can get on them and ride them, but any strange strange noises or unusual motions (like bouncing, swaying, etc.) can cause me to have a panic attack.

2. I lost 23 lbs using the Weight Watchers Flex Points system.

3. I met my husband on AOL in 1994 (before the vast majority of people even knew the internet existed).

4. I share a birthday with Tori Spelling and Wee-Man (from the movie Jackass).

5. I am an avid (rabid?) fan of Doctor Who. Ten is the by far the best, even though he does get kind of manic and shouty from time to time. I would have the biggest crush on him except for one thing--he's too thin for my taste. No kidding, he's a twig.

6. I am currently reading Terry Pratchett's "The Color of Magic". It's funny. I really like it. I couldn't get into it the first time I picked it up, but now I'm really enjoying it. I don't read as often as I used to, seeing as how I'm not really able to knit while reading. I've heard that it can be done, but not by me at this time. Speaking of knitting,

7. I love, love, love knitting. I know this may be indicated by the very existence of my blog and hence not very random, but seriously, I love it. I can't get enough of it. I would eat and knit, or bathe and knit, or do chores and knit, or sleep and knit if at all possible. I am seriously, severely obsessed.

So, no you know 7 random things about me. FYI, a Google search of "Seven Random Things" returned 1.98 million entries. A search of "7 Random Things" returned 73.6 million.

There are No Coffee Filters

About a year and a half ago, I bought one of those giant-sized bags of coffee filters at Costco. I think there were something like 500 in the package. I remember feeling pleased that it would be a long time before I had to even consider buying coffee filters again. I also remember a vague idea that I might become so accustomed to having coffee filters in the house that I'd probably forget to buy them when we finally ran out.

A couple of days ago, I said to myself, "gee, we're running low on coffee filters. I guess I'll need to dig some more out of the back of the cabinet." Of course, I didn't do it right away and I got distracted and I forgot about it completely. This morning, the children woke early (and I stayed up late). I put the TV on for them and stumbled into the kitchen to make a pot of Motivation. Filters? None. That's fine, I'll just climb up on this chair and dig them out of the back of the top-shelf cabinet. Shove the cookbooks out of the way, move all the rolls of aluminum foil (why do I have so many rolls of aluminium foil?), shove the cookbooks back to the other side, and start to feel frantic. How can we not have filters? I bought that huge thing. Where could they be?

Then realization began to set in. I've been awake for an hour. I've tossed all the cabinets my kitchen. There are no coffee filters in the house. We finally ran out and I had become accustomed to having them in the house, neglecting to purchase any more.

I have not had my morning coffee. This day is not going well.

Update in the Gallery

I finally posted the pattern for my little felted purse and matching card holder. Check it out!

Memorial Day Knitting

I did get some knitting done while sitting at the parade yesterday.

Here's the Monkey sock:



When we got home, I cast on for Isaac's Halloween costume.



Yes, you read that right and yes, that is Red Heart Yarn. You see, Isaac wants to be a bat again this year and the bat costume I sewed for him 2 Halloweens ago a)does not fit him well and b)looks very ratty from almost constant wear. Since I don't sew anymore, I figured why not knit a costume? I bought 5 huge skeins of Red Heart super saver (on sale $1.99 each) which should be MORE than enough to knit him a hat with ears and a batty-looking cape. Cool, huh? I should also have enough yarn to make a matching costume for Ezra.

I know, I'm a geek.

In Memorium

Today was the day we are supposed to remember our honored war dead, and to thank all who have served our county as members of the military. People usually just "celebrate" by cooking outside and getting drunk.

I took the boys down to the Memorial Day parade, explaining to Isaac that we are going to wave at the soldiers and thank them for their service. There was a time when I viewed these kinds of events as a sort of propaganda, similar that of the Soviets of yesteryear or the North Koreans now. Cynical, I know. But, today I felt differently. Our country is at war, and I watched the parade with sadness and a sense of loss at the sacrifice these men and women have made and are making. I wish I took pictures, but I was too busy weeping and waving and shouting thank you to every soldier, every vet, who passed. Also especially touching were the Gold Star Mothers. I wish I could think of something poignant enough to say about them. I just hope I never have to become one.

Happy Memorial Day.

Not for the faint of heart

If you are one of those people with a phobia of balloons bursting, don't follow this link. It could give you nightmares.

A Letter

My Dearest Monkey socks,

I could never stay mad at you for long. Your beautiful Tofutsies yarn in colorway 728 and delightful Cookie-designed lace are too delicious for me to resist. I’m so glad we made up. Even though I had to rip back your perfectly turned heel, attractive stockinette heel flap, and one repeat of the lace pattern, I still adore you. Thank you for being so forgiving of me. I know that our bond will be ever greater.

Love,
Your Knitter

Untitled

The Monkey socks are on a time-out.

I made a mistake and am now faced with either tinking back all of the gusset stitches and (possibly) re-doing the entire heel flap or living with break in the pattern repeat across the top of the foot. I am annoyed and I can't decide, so I put the project on a time-out.

The Booga Bag is finished. Photo in the Gallery.

I have the best sister in the world.

Here's what she gave me for my birthday.

I am so blessed to have a sister who gets me. Thanks again, Rachel!

Finally, the big news in our family as of Friday is that we got a Wii. Normally a new game system in our house would be quite unremarkable and not at all worth mentioning on a blog which is supposed to be devoted to knitting. However, check out this game that came as part of the bundle:

Everything except the person riding that cow is textured to look like knitting. How cool is that?

Taking Care of Business

I'm actually getting knitting work done. Here is the Booga Bag:

It's officially off the needles, but I haven't felted it yet, so I'm not counting it as a FO. It's in the laundry pile and will be felted tomorrow.

Here are the Monkey Socks when I started them a couple of days ago:


And here they are tonight:

I've started the heel flap and will probably finish the first sock this weekend. This is an awesome pattern. If you haven't knit these up yet... Go. Go now and knit one up. I'll wait. ... ... See? Isn't is awesome? The pattern repeat looks very intricate, but it's actually very simple. Thank you thank you thank you Cookie A. I love it.

I've also done another swatch for TKGA and reknit one of them. Photos of those to follow at a later time.

Lastly, we've had Doozer for almost 2 weeks now and he ROCKS. He fits in so well with our family, it's like we've always had him.

Cool, right?

Socks in the City Podcast

Like knitting socks? Have an iPod (or time to listen to the radio at your computer)? Check out this podcast wherein a blogger/podcaster/sockknitter talks about sock knitting and sock yarn and the sockosphere. You can find her show notes here. She is adorable and enthusiastic about sock knitting and I love the sly way she tries to get people to send her free sock yarn. Genius.

A couple of things...

1. How many Knitters does it take to change a light bulb? Various answers found here.
2. Ever wondered what your GI tract would look like if it were made from knitwear?
3. I finished my sock swatch and the actual gauge is 32 sts & 44 rows = 4 inches. So, I settled on this pattern for my next pair of socks. Awesome, right? I guess I will try a toe-up sock some another time.

Finally!

A website that combines Knitting (and other crafts) with Doctor Who. What a relief.

knitting haiku

swatching out these socks
nine point five stitches per inch
can't find a pattern

Copacetic

For about 2 weeks now, I've had the word "copacetic" stuck in my head--kind of like a catchy song, only not as fun to sing. I tried to fit it into blog posts or use it in my everyday speech, but I didn't really know what it meant, so it just sounded lame. Then, we got this cat:

He is the most mellow, laid-back cat I've ever met. He fell asleep on my lap and I moved him to Isaac's lap for a photo (note that he his still asleep).

Then, I moved him up to the chair-back so Isaac could get his jimjams on. Here he is, letting Ezra poke him in the eye and say "eye" (sort of sleeping).

Here he is still after I got both kids down for the night (sleeping).

Don't get me wrong, he runs and jumps and plays just like a normal kitten. He is just so happy to be with people. He wants to be cuddled under the covers. He wants to be petted and loved. He happily submits to Ezra's open mouthed kisses and finger prods. He's more than willing to be carted around in a basket by Isaac.

Anyhow, a visit to thesaurus.com yielded these results on a search of the word mellow. Note that a synonym of the word "amiable" is, you guessed it, "copacetic". I think the universe was sending me a message. Among the plethora of synonyms for copacetic are pussycat, groovy, and doozie. We finally settled on "Doozer" for a name. What do you think?

Meow!

This little guy joined our family today. Isn't he adorable? He's 10 weeks old and so far a pretty likeable fellow, too. No name as of yet. Any suggestions?

Talk to the Hand

I don't know how many posts I will do where the sole purpose is to point you to a link--this is my first--but I wanted to share this link with so many people, I figured this would be the easiest way. Whenever you feel like your knitting project is too big, or too complicated, or not funny enough, just remember Why Hillary Climbed Everest.