It's on its way!

I just got an email from Amazon dot com that bookbookbook, At Knit's End, by the fabulous Harlot herself, has been shipped! Shouts of Huzzah! (and all that...)

I can't wait!

Prizes and obligatory (but cute) pet photos

Here are two boxes all taped and prettied up for a trip to the post office:


This is what's in the little box: Nancy's yarn and stitch markers, awarded for so graciously contributing to my very first contest...which she won. The Cascade 220 is wool, but it's still chilly up north....note the white stuff in the background. Yup. That's snow. On my lawn. Still.


This is Ashley's scarf (in the bigger box...it took up more room) knit up from some black mircofibre and something I found at Yarn Quest in Traverse City, called "Funny" by SandnesGarn (I'm guessing somewhere Norway-ish?) on size 13s. Ash doesn't knit yet, because she is a college student who will be modelling this summer, and is majoring in ?biology? I think, and does research, and is at the top of her class and has about 18 minutes in her day to actually sleep....but someday there could be knitting.... Ashley was dd's very best buddy when they were 5.


I am still waiting on the other entrants, Colleen, Marianne and Emy, to get in touch with me so I can send them their stitch markers as well. I'm prompt about sending stuff out, really I am. Give me an addy and I'll send you the stitch markers!

And now for something completely different:

The reason(s) I own a Dyson 'Animal' vacuum cleaner and use it every day...

I got up early today (6am. I have fibromyalgia and am awake until 2 or 3am most nights, so for me to be up at this time of morning is miraculous. Or insane. Or both.) It was chilly in the house and I found all four animals huddled in the living room just feet away from the woodstove, probably praying for someone to come make a fire. They all looked so cute I figured I'd take pictures and introduce them to my blog.

Blog, meet my animals. Pets, meet my blog. (Remember, I didn't get much sleep...sorry.)


This is Maggie. She is my third child. She was dumped (can you imagine anyone dumping puppies!?) in the woods near our home. Dh brought her home. I said she could stay until the shelter opened again on Monday. That was in April 1999.

Turns out the same people dumped 4 puppies in various spots around our township and all eventually found homes and were taken to the local vet, so we found out from him that she is 1/2 Basenji (barkless South African hound) and 1/2 Golden Lab. She's about 45 pounds of majorly spoiled puppy. She does bark (the Lab side) but when you wrestle with her, or when she's forbidden to bark, she yodels. Yep. Yodels. Sounds just like it. I was a cat person until Maggie came into my life. Once she's gone, there may never be another dog. But until that time, I am completely owned by this pooch.


This is Puff, short for Puffalump. She was named by a 5yo (dd) and is now almost 14 years old. She is not dead, contrary to the way the photo looks. Katy picked her out of a box in front of a Meijer's grocery store in 1991. Apparently the kittens had been abused. Dd was the only one who could touch her for many years. She hid under the bed for about 3 years. She was always strictly an indoor cat. Several years ago she began really pushing to go outside. Turns out she's a major mouser and has cleared the property of field mice, gophers, moles, shrews and all the other things that eat my gardens and wander through my kitchen drawers in the winter. For reasons we may never know, around about the same time she started to be affectionate. Perhaps there is a connection. Living in the country and running around outside has been very good for her. She's healthy and strong for her age.

(This next bit is PG-13 rated...a warning.)

When she was about 3 years old, and we had not yet had her spayed (I know....but she was an indoor cat) she was going through an almost constant heat. One day a friend came over to borrow some tools and saw Puff yowling and rubbing her fanny up against the wall. "What's up with her?" he inquired. I replied, "She needs a man!" Turned out he had a papered Himalayan, roughly 8 months old. We left them alone for an afternoon and came home to find them lying on one of the beds smoking a cigarette.(Just kidding....) Nine weeks later Puff had three of the largest kittens I have ever seen.

And this is one of them.

This is Timothy, now 9 years old. Timmy is the most ill-tempered animal I have ever had the displeasure to know. He costs me a fortune as he requires professional grooming every 8 weeks. He hates almost everyone. He weighs about 20 pounds and does NOT like to be picked up. He's actually ds's cat and spends his days sleeping on Nick's bed. When he decides to be lovey, there's no cat so delightful. So here he remains. There's more to his story, but for some other time.

Riley is the baby of the family, just 2 years old this month.

We acquired him to be given as a gift to a young friend who had recently lost her cat. This was a hush-hush sort of thing, where she knew we were going to 'surprise' her with a kitten, and assured us that her parents were perfectly okay with her having another cat. They were not. We were NOT well received and we and the kitten were summarily dismissed.

Katy decided that she needed a ginger cat, so I was conned into welcoming yet another animal in my very small house.

Curiously, Riley has wound up being dh's cat. He waits for Scott to come home from work and greets him at the door. He 'helps' him take a shower, pawing at the shower door trying to help dh 'escape' from the evil water. He talks! Lots...and loudly. He rises with the sun and wants everyone to be up with him (he's the real reason I wound up getting up at 6am today.)

There's my four-footed family. I was a condo dweller for years and never planned on having children or pets. Surprise!

And now I am going to finish the sleeves on my lovely blue sweater. While it's currently 61F here, we are anticipating snow flurries by Friday morning. This *is* northern Michigan, and it *is* only March, after all. And if I hurry, I will be wearing it by Friday. Actually. I hope.

...and the winner is...ummm...winners are....

"Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole.

This, apparently, was a clear mandate of the people as so many more than one suggested it. However, there can be but one grand prize winner, and that would be the one who suggested it first: Nancy! Email me with your snail mail addy and let me know a) Do you want the lovely ball of incredibly green and yellow Cascade 220? and b) How would you like your stitch markers? (That is NOT an improper question/suggestion! The small ones fit up to a size 6 needle, the medium ones fit up to a size 10 needle, and the large ones fit up to a size 17 needle.) Pick six...any six. Email me and I'll ship 'em off immediately!

Coming in second is dd's friend Ashley, a non-knitter (imagine!) to whom will be winging this lovely scarf (as soon as it's finished) and yes, thanks, that is a hand-rolled center-pull ball. Changed my life (pre-ball winder) when I learned how to do that!

Third, with the same wonderful, unforgettable suggestion, was Colleen. Pick six and give me an address!

Not to be un-prized, Marianne, who came up with the bride's favorite song in the whole world (dh and she could only agree on one...this was second...) "My Girl"...pick six, dear, and give me an address!

And Emy, who suggested "Sway" which I have never heard, but after her description of it I will simply have to go download it...pick six...give me an addy.

Small contest, prizes for all!

Kimber, here are the Dulaan hats lined up and awaiting a box (or perhaps, for more to join them before they leave.) Everybody go visit Kimber's new blog! (please? And leave comments. It'll make her really happy!)



This has been fun. I've heard from a lot of people and gotten waaay more traffic than I might originally have (I'll admit it. It's discouraging to blog your heart out and then have no one read or comment. It's been such an up to hear from people whose blogs I've been reading for a long time.)

It's sunny here today and if the temp will rise above 40F it might melt some of the 18" of snow still all over the property (back in the woods there will likely be snow in some spots until May. It's actually waist-deep in places.)

Have a blessed day!

The contest continues...and we have some great entries!

Just returned from Traverse City (60 miles away, where we go to do our "big" shopping since we have only a tiny grocery and no WalM*rt or anything here) where we bought lots of wedding stuff. Candles, wedding favor stuff, ribbon, silk flowers for the tossing bouquet, the bride's SHOES! Many and varied things and nothing from Border's except strong coffee for the ride home. The Harlot's book HAS NOT arrived there yet.

Lots to post, no time tonight, but I wanted to add something to the little father/daughter dance song contest cache (say that three times fast) I've been accumulating and can't wait to give out! Here, needing no introduction is: Cascade 220. Betcha never saw it in this color, eh? That's because I dyed it all by myself. Washed it in Eucalan so it smells sweet and stays colorfast. This will be the grand prize in addition to the stitch markers, unless of course, you actually hate this, which possibility exists...it's kinda retro, isn't it... I really wanna see someone do something fun with this. I have been having a blast dyeing wool...not as much fun as knitting, and much damper, but a blast nonetheless.

I'll post the winner on Monday morning and you can send me your snail mail addy so I can send off the goods.

The bride is consulting with the groom about all the music, so I need to get off the computer. He has just returned from a week of military exercises wherein he was essentially incommunicado, so they have a lot to say to each other and at great length (and schmooziness...)

Have a blessed Resurrection Day!

A good day for up...

Good evening fellow knitters. You're probably all wondering why I've asked you here...

Just kidding! (I've always wanted to say that). Now that everyone is thoroughly confused, let me introduce myself. I'm Snooze's dd, Kate (a.k.a. Bridezilla, bride-to-be, Kiki, and hosts of other nicknames) Tonight, I have taken over mom's blog.

I'm a fairly new knitter, but I've already come to love it and be addicted to it (I swore I wouldn't be! But it can't be helped; I'm a third generation knitter. It's in my blood, so I finally caved to my yarn hoarding, sock knitting, knitting blog reading desires...who am I to argue with genetics??). My first official FO (Dulaan hats don't count; they were more for practice) is a pair of baby socks for my friend, Christin. They are the most darling things and have been known to (on occasion) cause me to squeal with delight. The only thing that will make them better is when I see them on the baby's tiny feet. I'm sure that when this moment comes, it will involve more squealing.

My current project is a lovely gray sweater for my fiancé, Mike. I've heard all of the boyfriend horror stories, but I think we're gonna be fine. Mike isn't the heart-breaking, sweater stealing type. He's the kind of guy who picks me wild flowers, allows me to tell him (in great detail) about anything and everything that is on my mind or heart, patiently tells me the names of the star-constellations again and again because I simply cannot remember them, and lets me walk through haunted houses behind him with my arms around his waist, and my face buried in the back of his shirt, so I will feel safe and not-so scared. He's just that wonderful =) Okay...now that everyone is gagging, I think my work here is done.

I'm really excited about hearing everyone's ideas for the father/daughter dance song! Dad and I have been arguing about this for two months now. My darling brother, Nick-o, has been wonderful with suggestions, but as I have tried to gently tell him, 'Baby Got Back' and 'Pimp Juice' just aren't quite what I'm looking for. I am following the comments on the post; for those of you who are bashful about leaving comments, mom has graciously supplied her e-mail =) sgrougan at gtlakes dot com.

I'll be stopping in for another random post sometime in the near future,
but until then keep knitting; keep smiling; and remember, there is always room for Jell-O =D
~Kate~

Tonight's posting has been brought to you by!....

You're The Dictionary!

by Merriam-Webster

You're one of those know-it-all types, with an amazing amount of knowledge at your command. People really enjoy spending time with you in very short spurts, but hanging out with you for a long time tends to bore them. When folks really need an authority to refer to, however, you're the one they seek. You're an exceptional speller and very well organized.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

(I forced mom into taking this quiz...oddly enough this was the result. She was less than amused, though I'm pretty sure she's knows just about every word in it (This is to her credit =) *giggles* I love you mom. Thanks for giving me free reign of the blog for tonight *hugs*)

Contest! Knitting photos! Contest! ...and a new bad habit...

As promised, there will be photos today...as soon as I figure out how to work this stupid program. And a contest.

The contest first: As mentioned before, dd is getting married in July. Most Many of the details of the wedding are under control. One thing that hasn't been decided is this: After the bride and groom have their first dance, what song shall the bride and her father dance to?

Songs already rejected include but are not necessarily limited to: Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' with Disaster", "The Macarena", "The Chicken Dance", anything by Cher or Boy George, "Butterfly Kisses," all country/western music... As a possible hint, the bride-to-be's taste runs toward early Frank Sinatra, anything swing, The Temptations and some Elvis. The reception will be at 8pm, and is NOT a sit-down dinner, at the behest of the bride. There will be dancing and waiter-served hors d'oeuvres and desserts, including the requisite chocolate fountain. It's all very '40s night-clubbish (sans alcohol.) The father of the bride has suggested "Can't Touch This," but the bride declined, indicating that the groom might be slightly intimidated.

The prize: This is where I talk about my new bad habit. See, I needed some of those stylish little stitch markers that look so trendy on the finest knitting needles in the finest blogs. I needed them. And so I bought them. Dh asked me why the heck I was buying these when I had on hand some of the very materials that these appear to be made from. "Why yes!" I thought to myself. There are indeed beads somewhere in this house, beads that I used in some earlier craftish incarnation. So I rushed right out to Michael's and spent a lot of money cautiously chose the few materials I needed to make stitch markers.

This brings us to the prize: a set of six markers (two of each size, several made by the bride herself) for the person who can come up with something bridezilla is willing to dance to.

So this contest will run until Sunday, March 28th, because on Monday the 29th, the bride meets with the music people to begin putting together the music for the whole shebang.

Realizing that this is a new blog and that my readership is still quite small, there could be other small prizes for anyone who has even the semblance of a good/acceptable suggestion...

Okay, that's the contest and the bad habit (which is actually a lot of fun...today the kids helped me and we called it 'Arts & Crafts') and...oh yeah...the pictures. I still haven't figured out the easy way to do it. I know it's not tough, but I just haven't gotten the hang of photo*bucket. However, here are a few things that've been finished for a while and I had no photos....so, herewith...

Photo #1: more playing with food coloring. Paton's wool, once white now...berry-ish.

Photo #2: Koigu wristers (my own adapted pattern) shown on the hands of the lovely bride-to-be (catch a glimpse of her rock in this one)

Photo #3: The gloriously beautiful shawl made of Fiesta's La Boheme


And that's all I can manage for tonight. Keep those cards and letters coming, folks, and help this poor bride avoid having dancing to something she despises, or Barenaked Ladies.

Hurry! Time's running out! ....Thanks!

I'm so excited...I just can't hide it.....

After anguishing and driving poor Julie absolutely nuts about the problems I was having getting my code together (and no, that's not a euphemism, but now that I think about it, it could be ) and after twenty four hours of our ISP being down, gone, unuseable, incommunicado, I returned online this morning to find that I had been officially inducted into what I consider the best online soro/fraternity in the knitting world: the Knitting Bloggers ring! Call me silly, but I danced around the house for long enough that even the cats thought I had taken leave of my senses and steered clear of me for hours.

We're in the process of selling our business. Dh has gone to work for the company that's buying the assets of our company. No one's sleeping around here much as we're trying to pull 6 years of info and contracts together to be turned over this week. Additionally, dh has been working 10 hour days in the field and then coming home to pore over the desk for another 6 or 7 hours. Compound that with the stress of the temporary death of the computer and you can understand why we've been hoping for Xanax (or accountants and secretaries) to fall from the sky and land in our living room. I remind myself that this too shall pass...and then the bills will be paid and there will be peace (and more yarn.)

In knitting news, I spent two hours with three 12yo Girl Scouts and their leader this evening, teaching them the basics of the craft. From jump street. We even made the needles ourselves. They did well...at least it seemed that way. We'll see next week. Meantime, I emailed them all the website info I had on learning how to knit. They all appeared to be motivated, but in that way kids have, were horribly disappointed when they couldn't start making a scarf tonight. We're still working on casting on and knit stitch. And I'm still chuckling at the horrified looks they displayed when I told them to pull all the stitches off and cast on again. I think they were expecting the thing to morph into a sweater in their hands. All in times, ladies...

The lovely blue sweater has a finished front and back and 7" of two (count 'em! 2!) sleeves.

Predictably, it was not finished for the homeschool conference (during which I was sick as the proverbial dog but managed to sell 90% of my used curriculum, thereby putting yarn money in my pocket.) I'm hustling on it now as it was 40F here today. Can spring be far behind? (We had 5" of snow Saturday. Who am I kidding?)

Dd has started a sweater for her fiance. Although I know the bf sweater story, I can't bring myself to believe that there will be trouble here. She has a sizeable diamond on her finger and the groom is champing at the bit to get married. I think it'll be okay. The wedding's only 3.5 months away.Here's the fun button she made...

It will be okay, right...? I'm really proud of her. She's become a knitting addict, just like her dear old mum.

Tomorrow I will find time to figure out how to use a program that my kids use for posting photos to their online journals, and there will be pictures of many things...things I haven't even ever mentioned here...things I knitted before I knew there was blog! Things I wanna see on my computer screen! Beautiful knitty things! I promise!

Happy Spring!

Fifteen (or so) minutes of fame(ishness)...

I am so all about excited tonight! I just got an email telling me that I am the next contestant on "The Price is Right" JenLa's Interview! " C'mon down!" My 15 minutes of fame! (I suppose this depends on how well I can hold your interest in the answers to these questions... :::sigh::: I'm still very excited! Thanks, ladies!

So here's how it goes down:

Copied this directly off the (in)famous JenLa blog:

***The other day Domestigirl was doing this cool interactive thing with her readership. See, those of us who were interested in participating had to follow the few simple rules stated below, answer the individualized questions in our blog that she left for us on hers and then we pass it on. Makes sense? Anyhow, this is a way to get out of boring the hell out of all of you by taking 12 paragraphs to say 16 more rows on DSS and 4 painstaking inches on Mariah!, (oh, lookie there, I just did).

First, here are the simple rules to follow if you’d like to participate:
1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here. They will be different questions than the ones below.
3. You will update YOUR blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.***


So here are the questions they posted for me (for me! Imagine!)

Snooze
1. What got you interested in blogging?
I did a simple search for 'knitting' and came up with several knit blogs. Never heard of such a thing. Spent a little time cruising around and after reading a wonderful post, I decided to leave a comment for someone. Turns out that Blogger (as you've so aptly and recently noted) is not very good with the comments thing. In fact, it turned out that they required me to register and essentially create a blog before I could post a comment! (This seems like some sort of coerciveness that goes beyond propriety...) Nevertheless, I wound up with a post, and the vanity of seeing myself in print online was so overwhelming that it just kinda kept rolling. (You can actually google 'Susie Grougan' and pull up some homeschooling articles I've written in the waaay past that wound up archived online, but that doesn't count as much as this...)

2. Can you tell me a little more about yourself? More about your family (feel free to used pseudonyms, we do); your pets; career; life; home, etc?
I'm almost 52. I am married to Scott whom everyone calls Steve for some cosmic reason which we remain ignorant of at this point. We've been married for 20 years last Christmas Eve. I can honestly say that it's better with every year that passes. Schmoozey, I suppose, but really true. We've been self-employed for too many years. When our health insurance topped $11,000.00/year, we rethought the whole self-employment thing. Today he became gainfully employed. Next week the assets of the business get sold and we will hopefully inch closer to solvency than we've been in many years.

I have an almost 19yo daughter who is marrying her soul-mate (who unfortunately for me is stationed in Okinawa and has selfishly decided to move her there to be with him for about 2.5 years. :::sob:::) in July. She was homeschooled until her senior year of high school when she announced that she wanted to find out what school was like. Bored her to tears, forced her to get up way too early. She graduated 7th in her class (and boy, did *I* feel vindicated!) I call her Kiki, but her name is actually Kate-the-Great.

I have a 16 year old son, Nick, who knows everything. (Gosh, I wish I was still 16 sometimes. There's so much I'd like to know/remember! ) He's been homeschooled all his life. He's an Eagle Scout, body builder, and spends every free moment working on the sound system in his vehicle which will never be finished because there is not enough money in the world to do what he wants to do...or so he says... He will be heading off to public school for his senior year next fall, It's all about the sports, 'cuz he's already got enough credits to graduate...

There are three cats and one dog-who-thinks-she's-a-cat in the very small space we call home. I'm sure they will make guest appearances (obligatory animal photos) as Riley did the other day...

We live out in the woods (literally...1.6 miles back off a dirt road, backing up to 2000 acres of hardwood state land.) There will be pictures of deer and turkey and bears and other exciting wildlife as they appear...or not.

This could be more info than you might ever have wanted to know about me and it doesn't even scratch the suface. Be very glad I'm not itching...

3. What is the single best piece of advice you could give to your first-born’s new spouse?
She is pre-verbal for about 30 minutes upon rising. Bring her coffee and her knitting and kiss her on the forehead. Then leave her alone until you actually hear her voice. Otherwise there will be mayhem.

4. What’s your favorite kind of project to knit?
Kind? Okay..kind...ummm...an entire genre qualifies as 'kind', right? Okay...anything that requires a set of doublepoint needles. That would include, but not be limited to: socks, gloves, mittens, wristers, leg warmers, hats, sweaters knitted in the round.... But if I had to pick one, I'd say socks.

5. I see you’re a sci-fi geek like me! If you were to write a sci-fi screen play, could you give me a quick overview of what it would be about?
Wow. That's tough. I think it'd have to be something that combined the essential elements of Farscape, Doug Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and several old Twilight Zone episodes. :::mentally composing opening paragraph:::


So there it is. No photos but fun to think about. And if there are any folk out there who would be interested in carrying this meme on, I'd be more than thrilled to come up with 5 questions for you too!

Jen, La, on the eve of being moved out of the queue and into the knitter's blog ring, I thank you. I feel so accepted! (Okay, even if I'm not really, I feel that way and that's what really counts.)

Off to continue knitting on the lovely blue sweater whose cabled front is only 8 rows from done and whose sleeves are already cast on in tandem. I really wanna wear this on Saturday. It simply will not happen. But I'm gonna give it my best try...

'night!

Dyeing for oranges...

I actually had a yen to dye yarn somewhere around 11:30 last night. Doesn't this happen to everybody? Believe it or not, I used McCormick food coloring (the kind in the expensive little squeeze bottles that you pay $3.29 for 4 little .25oz bottles? You know the ones....) and since I had no vinegar in the house for mordant, but I *did* have ascorbic acid (vitamin C!) I put some of that in some water, threw some wool/mohair blend (Lana Gatto??? I don't remember) and started drizzling color mixed with a little water that I had put in one of those little medicine cups (the kind that come on top of a bottle of Robitussin, y'know...) and then I threw it into the microwave for about 4 minutes until it boiled. Let it sit until it was cool, then rinsed it out. Very scientific. It's gorgeous. I couldn't make this happen again if I worked day and night at it.

Orange you glad...?

Bookbookbook....sniffle, gulp....where are you?

I am We are all waiting anxiously for Stephanie's bookbookbook to ship. Seems like Amazon's just not as on the ball about it as they said they'd be (they keep saying it'll ship between 5March and 11March...and it's not shipped yet.) So while I was there, I had a little fun looking through the knitting books. I have a rather extensive collection...extensive enough that I donated a bunch of them to the local library. That does not, however, keep me from desiring more...and more...

So I made a Wishlist while I was there. It seems to come up under dh's name (Scott) but that did not in any way deter me from making the list, in spite of the fact that he wants more knitting books about as much as he'd like to have gum surgery. No matter. Those who love me know how obsessive I can be when something captures my fancy. And lest you think that this is a passing fancy, allow me to remind you that I am well into my second year as a serious knitter, and have half a dozen projects on the needles currently, as well as over 40 completed projects in the past year.

Enough. I'm more than half done up the front of my lovely blue sweater. I'd love to have it done before Friday. Unfortunately, I have some 125 books that have to be prepped, tagged and catalogued for check-in at the Homeschool Bookfair I'm heading downstate to attend this weekend. Lotsa luck, eh?

Off to knit fast.

Friday Morning Tag

This was interesting for me to complete as it forced me to think through a few things I hadn't given much consideration.

Do you knit using the English or Continental Method? I learned to knit using a modified English method. In reality, I've never seen anyone knit quite as I do. And then I read Annie Modesitt's book Confessions of a Knitting Heretic and discovered that I am actually mostly knitting in a Combined Method. Isn't it nice to be able to put a name to something? And to be able to tell people, "No, it's okay...it really works out for me, the way I knit. Look at the product, not the process!" And then I decided to teach myself traditional English and Continental so I could strand for fair isle. Confused? You bet I am.

How long ago did you learn to knit? My left-handed mama tried to teach me from the time I was about 8. She had little patience and being exceedingly left-dominant, hadn't the ability to see from my perspective to try to help me understand. I finally got the hang of it when I was 32, but only knit for a short while until I learned how to crochet. Something about the increased speed of production with crocheting caused me to put down my knitting for over 18 years. In November 2003, I spied a pair of handmade socks knit with Fortissima Colori. I was so entranced with the striping that I immediately went out and bought needles, pattern and yarn. I have not crocheted since.

Who taught you how? I taught myself, using some now-long-forgotten book.

What was your first FO? The first thing I made when I first learned to knit was a raglan top-down sweater for dh. No half-stepping for me! He still has it, but it's way too small. Prolly was back when I made it, too, but he was too kind to say so. In November 2003 my first FO was that pair of socks which still grace feet in this house.

Favorite yarn? Alpaca. Without question, alpaca. And in the #2 spot, Baby Cashmerino from Debbie Bliss. #3 would be Koigu. And then everything else soft and wooly. But not mohair. I have a real problem with mohair. Haven't yet found one soft enough to wrap around my neck without feeling as though I could scratch myself to death. I love the look, but the feel...I itch just thinking about it.

Favorite pattern you’ve knit so far? Anything socks, anything with cables. I love cables!

Favorite pattern source? No one source in particular. But Melissa Leapman's patterns seem to keep spinning off my needles, so perhaps...

Favorite needles? Circular—Addis in every size, and Brittany dpns.

Nicest thing you’ve ever knit: The alpaca Natalyas. No, the Baby Cashmerino layette set. No, the Natura pullover. No, the Koigu wristers. No.....

Most hated project: Can't remember b/c as soon as it becomes apparent that there's hate involved...even the tiniest bit of distaste for a pattern or yarn or combination thereof, off the needles it slips, into the frog pond. And often the yarn quickly finds a new home with someone who will love it. Not enough room to keep cantankerous yarn hanging around!

And this meme ends here because I think I may very well be the last knitblogger on the planet to have received it. Of course, I didn't have a blog until just a few weeks ago....but even so! Hrrrrumph.

Lots of photos and a hard lesson learned...

This is Riley and the Norma Dulaan hat in progress. Riley believes that any time yarn of any sort hits a horizontal surface, he is obligated to lay his furry body atop it, adding to its warmth and furry-ness. I, on the other hand believe that this will be taking a Eucalan bath before it leaves my possession.

This is the Dulaan in progress without Riley. Much easier to knit when he's somewhere else.

This is the completed hat. Made from double stranded Lamb's Pride worsted, it was fun and quick to make. Now viewing: side 1: is this the outside, or the inside?

Now viewing: side 2: other outside? or the other inside? I can't tell. Either way, it's cute!

Dd Kate wanted in on the Dulaan-ing, and so contributed: Baby Dulaan, a multicolored Encore baby-sized hat...

...aaaaand the stripe-y Dulaan hat, made from Lamb's Pride worsted and Mountain Colors and very warm and toasty.

After reading what Norma had to say about cold today, and having awakened to an outside temp of -18F myself, I purpose to knit more, and make sure the things I knit for this project are super cozy and warm. I cannot imagine being without warmth when I need/want it, can't imagine what it must be like to have to walk or work in that kind of cold all winter long. Warm. Thankful.

And the hard lesson? Well, I actually had this post totally composed and ready to roll yesterday, when I did something simple and stupid...hit the backspace...and the post wasn't saved. More than an hour of my time wasted. Aaaargh. I'm beginning to have a new appreciation for the frustration people have when they mention disappearing posts. I hereby promise myself to save the blasted thing in draft mode before exiting the page. Now let's hope I remember.

Hump Day Meme

Found this in my email today. I don't usually do these things b/c I haven't the patience to do the cut'n'paste answer thingie. Dunno why it caught my fancy today except that I'm up after only 3.5 hours sleep and on my way to the hospital to have an ECG, and it seemed like the thing to do.

1. What time did you get up this morning ? 6:25am
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds all the way!
3. What was the last film you saw? The Hulk...on TV as I walked through the room
4. What is your favorite TV show? TLC's "A Makeover Story"
5. What did you have for breakfast? Coffee and Armour Thyroid
6. Beach or mountains? Beach
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Junk...I mean...Thai
8. What foods do you dislike? Junk...I mean...yeah...junk
   
9. What are your favorite Potato chips? Lay's Salt & Vinegar...
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Souljahz
11. What kind of car do you drive? 2003 Buick Rendezvous
12. Favorite sandwich? BLT on toast
13. What characteristics do you despise? Insincerity, false humility
14. What is your favorite item of clothing? Long-sleeved gray cotton t-shirt
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Paris
16. What color is your bathroom? Lavender
17. Favorite brand of clothing? Anything I knit
18. Where would you like to retire to? My house in the woods – with no mortgage
    
19. Favorite time of day? 1:45am
20. Where were you born? Newark, NJ
21. Favorite sport to watch? Figure skating
22. What fabric detergent do you use? The kind in a huge 40# bucket from Sam's
23. Coke or Pepsi? Neither...don't drink any sodas
24. Are you a morning person or night owl? Morning...right before I go to sleep..lol
    
25. What is your shoe size? 8.5
26. Do you have any pets? Maggie (my other child sweet Basenji/Golden Lab mix), Timothy, Puffalump and Riley, the 3 most ADHD kitties in the world
    
27. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with your family and friends? The same exciting news I always share: Jesus Christ is Lord!
28. What did you want to be when you grew up? A mom...really
29. Do you have a favorite quote? "My Grace is sufficient for thee"
    
30. What's your favorite color? Gray
31. What's your favorite sport to play? Basketball
32. What's your favorite non-alcoholic beverage? Water...really
33. Favorite Teacher? Tony Freda...Sparta HS
34. What's your sign? No parking
35. What's your Birthday? Something I don't get to celebrate since I gave birth to a child on the very same day!
36. Red or White Wine? No alcohol since 1984
37. Favorite genre of music? Classical (Mendelsohn), Christian Rap (KJ52, John Reuben)
38. Favorite alcoholic beverage? No alcohol since 1984
39. Do you EBay? You betcha
40. Do you own a digital camera? Yep
41. Silver or Gold? Gold
42. Black or White? Black
43. Ever go skinny dipping? Nope. Even if I did, I'd hafta make 2 trips...lol
44. Ever go sky diving? Not yet!
45. How long have you lived in your current home? 6.5 years
46. What's the most important quality a friend has to have? Saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ...I want my friends with me for eternity!
47. Do you cook? After 3 meals x 3 times/day x 20+ years, I avoid it as often as I can! (Kids can cook now too...)
48. Coffee or Tea? Coffee
49. How do you take your coffee? ...strong, light and sweet
50. What time is it now? 7:35am. My heart has not started beating yet...
51. Country or City? Out in the woods!

Hey...does this qualify as 51 of 100 things about me? (I hope not...there's so much more to me than my favorite piece of clothing...duh.)


In knitting news, I finished my first Dulaan hat last night (great photos to follow after the doc appt today...I think I've got it figured out how to do this) following Norma's pattern. Curiously,there is, in my possession, a very old hat knitted by my mama (she's been gone since 1993) made in mohair, huge and pulled out of shape, but made in exactly the same way! DS has been asking me to make another like it to fit him, and I told him I'd need to think about a pattern. Voila...thanks, Norma! All I need to do is make it a few stitches larger to fit his big teenaged head!

...will I ever get the hang of this?

I wonder if I will ever understand the curious world of html. It doesn't hurt frustrates me terribly that I have so many computer literate (read: geniuses) in my family (read: people who actually make a living doing this stuff.) And though my sweet little brother spent at least 20 minutes trying to explain image hosting to me...I just can't grasp the concept... he, naturally, is in Florida, whilst I am in Michigan.

I need to see it done! I need to see a hands-on demonstration! I am a total ditz about this!

I'm going back to knitting Dulaan hats. Yarn is so much kinder.

Could computers be more frustrating?

I've been holding off on posting for several days trying to get all the computer programs back in place so that I can start posting photos. Naturally, when we lost all the information from 12/28 forward, everything I had taken pictures of all disappeared as well. Some of those items have found their way to their new homes and will be photographically lost to me forever, most likely. Ah, computerland.

Additionally, the program that I use to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer has gone missing, so all the new pics I managed to take are languishing on a little chip waiting to be transferred to the computer...someday.

Now see, I don't mind reading someone's blog that has miles and miles of writing (assuming it holds my interest) without too many pictures, but a) not too many people are as weird as I, and b) I am simply not that compelling a writer. So photos it must be. I've downloaded Picasa (a fabu program, if you haven't looked into it yet) and its Blogger interface, Hello. So why aren't the pictures imminently forthcoming? Well, it seems that Hello sends a confirming email to you before it'll let you play. I've been waiting 45 minutes almost two hours now for that email. I've tried it twice three five times. Double Triplechecked the email addy. Where the **** is my verifying email???

Okay, so when this alleged email shows up, I will begin inserting pictures...I hope.

Edited in later: found the photo thingie and finished the UPS guy's RAOK gloves...here's proof:


UPS guy gloves


Whoo Hoo!!!!