Topic #3

For the All Hallows Eve Dishcloth Swap:

Every holiday has oddball things available to use for decoration, have in the house, or wear - some things are stranger than others. What's the oddest/strangest/weirdest Halloween decoration you have ever gotten for your home? Or, if you've never had a "wow, did I REALLY buy that?!" moment - what's the strangest Halloween decoration you've seen somewhere else?

I think this topic is weird; after all, isn’t Halloween when we can get all weirded out and decorate to the max? The decorations for Halloween are supposed to be different, strange, and unusual just to meet the Halloween-type expectations. I do have to say though, that I once had a neighbor who had a horse pasture in front of their house that they decorated so much, that you could not see the house, and they let people drive through it (just like a Christmas exhibit, except for the colors, music, and type of decorations.) I just don’t have the energy to put that many decorations up or to take them down; if I did that, they would probably be the still out when it came time to decorate for Christmas. :-)

1. The smell of the autumn air, vacation, and picking apples are some of the things I'm most looking forward to in October.

2. Sometimes I like to be contrary just for the fun of it.

3. Because being human, it is inevitable that we will change our minds and that's why there is a saying, "never say never"!

4. When I'm down, I eat chocolate and clean.

5. Knitting in the living room or at work is where you'll find me most often.

6. A rainy day is good for staying in bed and knitting and or reading.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to sleep, tomorrow my plans include work and Sunday, I want to read but will be working (argggh I hate the end of the fiscal year)!

Woweee!

Wow, look what I just received! Isn’t it beautiful? This is the first hand knit anything apparel that I have ever received and it is gorgeous. Thank you Grace, I love this shawl. And in her gracious way, she included some extras, a pair of good smelling tea lights and a magnet with my initials that fits into my office perfectly.

I have started reading Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, the sequel to Eragon and Eldest. They are fantasy books, but for some reason I find them interesting.
The problem is I am still working 7 days a week (at least until October 1) so knitting and reading time is very limited. I have started a new dishcloth for my swap partner, a sweater for me, a sweater for my oldest daughter, a scarf for my other daughter, and a hat for her boyfriend. Now I just get to feel pulled whenever I either read or knit, if I am reading I want to knit, If I am knitting I want to read, I just cannot make up my mind. Maybe I will give both up and sleep :-)

I found another contest that Rita, at Keeping Knit Simple, is having, you can go here to enter it. She wants everyone to leave their best tips, she says "Funny is not only accepted but encouraged." Go ahead and giver her your best and funniest tips, and please tell her I sent you.

Topic 2

For the All Hallows Eve Dishcloth Swap:

Here in Atlanta, it’s finally cooling down, and beginning to truly seem like fall. I sit now with windows open, and the air is cooler than usual, and trees are beginning to change. For me, cool mornings, crisp evenings, and trees in red, gold and orange glory are the very best parts of Fall - What are your favorite parts of fall? How do you know it’s truly arrived where you are?

I haven’t been here long, but the nights have turned very cool, the days are shorter and the trees are already losing their leaves. My mums have bloomed, and the AC was shut down several weeks ago (and I can open my windows for the first time in years, allergies are not as bad here as they were in GA). The light in the sky always gets a special glow in the autumn, my favorite time of year (yes, even before the springtime). If I were an artist, I would stand outside in the middle of the day and paint in an attempt to catch that special light, as it is, I can only sit and appreciate the light.

The Big Read

I found this list on Amber's blog and thought it was a fun idea.

The Big Read is an National Endowment for the Arts program designed to encourage community reading initiatives and of their top 100 books, they estimate the average adult has read only six.

*Look at the list and bold those we have read.
*Italicize those we intend to read.
*Underline the books we LOVE .

Share this list on your blog, too, if you like.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I have read 56 of the hundred that are on the list and plan on reading another 6 or 7of them; however I am surprised by books not on the list. Let’s see, no Mark Twain, Jack London, or Stephen King (who everyone must admit, is the King of scary books). And while I adore Gone with the Wind, I do not think that Margaret Mitchell was that great of an author (and would the book be so popular if the movie wasn’t). I was glad to see that so many of Jane Austen’s books were on the list as they are great.

How many of the books have you read? How many more do you plan on reading?

1. There is no need to make the bed every morning unless you do not want it filled with dog and cat hair every night.

2. Where in the heck did the packers put the knife block with all the knives in it?

3. Unpacking one box yesterday is all I managed to do.

4. Prospects for early retirement are not looking good.

5. Peace and honesty is the message.

6. Simplicity and tranquility are what I strive for in my life.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to sleeping and maybe getting some knitting in, tomorrow my plans include working and unpacking and Sunday, I want to work again, read, knit, and nap!

Prizes, Pix, and I am Bad/Rude

I am a bad/rude person, sometimes. I won two contests this summer and never posted about them and I am very sorry Jane and Aunt Kathy

Jane of Grammiknits had a 400th post contest in July and I was one of the lucky winners and this is what I won - a great market bag. I love it and use it all of the time, I find it especially handy at the farmer’s market. Thank you Jane, I am sorry I am so bad/rude.



Aunt Kathy of Aunt Kathy’s Place had a contest that ran for most of the summer (with weekly prizes) and I won this yarn and needles. Aren’t they great? Thank you Aunt Kathy, I am sorry I am so bad/rude, again! I haven’t decided what to make yet, but I will let you know. Any suggestions?



SURVIVOR - GABON
Survivors Ready is set up on Ravelry and I got in; I am on Team 7. Every one is assigned two people to support for the entire season (I have been assigned to Bob and Jessica) and which ever Team member's players win, gets prizes from the rest of the team (ranging from $15-$20). This will be fun, but I do not think I will be the winner on my team :-)

Here is the picture of the collapsible hat I finished Sunday,and I have already started a matching scarf, which is moving along quickly. I like the roll brim instead of the normal ribbing and it will fit well, so this one is a success.


Monica Ferris is an author who has been around awhile and she writes needlework adventures. The hero of the book runs a needlework store where she meets and greets people from all over town. Her books are fun, sometimes a little twisted, but great for reading at stoplights when your wrists hurt too much to knit. I just finished reading “Framed in Lace” and “Knitting Bones” and enjoyed them both.

Late Whiskers on Wednesday

"Why are you disturbing my nap?

"I am watching you!"

"Napping here!"

Topic of the Week #1

The Topic of the Week at the All Hallows Eve Dishcloth Exchange is to get to know our fellow exchangers (or at least one of them) and to post what we learn about them on our blogs. I checked out Wendy N’s site, Musings from a Knucklehead. . .; she is a knitter, a teacher, and she has 88 posts for the year, a lot more than I do. She likes Halloween (she was born in the fall) and fall colors. We both like Granny’s favorite dishcloth pattern and weirdest of all, we both won a shopping bag from Jane at GrammieKnits. That is such a coincidence isn’t it? One other thing that I found we have in common, we are both willing to sit and knit, even if the house is not perfectly clean, imagine that :-)

I was assigned my partner for the exchange and I have already started shopping for her. I start knitting tonight so everything is ready and leaves on time. I hate being late for swaps, and refuse to have it happen again.

Pictures and Babbling, and Even Some Yarn

I have to work this weekend, which is not a fun thing as I have worked late every night this week also. It is the end of the fiscal year for the federal government, so those of us who have to spend the money get to work a lot of overtime. I do not think I will get a weekend or an evening off until after October 1st.

Remember I told you we took time off from unpacking to go sightseeing? Here is a picture of Lambspun of CO, the building used to be a farmhouse and now it is a Yarn shop and a café. The picture is off their web site, because I could not take pictures without a camera and camera battery, but this is what it looks like, the area behind the shop is a golf course.

Here is a picture of the yarn and needles I purchased while I was there, I knew
I wanted to make a hat from the yarn, so of course I needed a new set of needles (my Options needles did not have a cord short enough, and I did not have a set of size 11dp’s.) Wasn’t that a good excuse to get some new needles?
The only problem with the Knitpicks Options is that it has removed the need for new needles in most instances, which is sad, as new needles are so much fun.
The yarn is Lamb’s Pride Bulky in cranberry, the yarn feels good and the colorway is pretty. As you can see, the hat will be done tomorrow, so one more Christmas present down!






On our way home from Ft. Collins, we took a side trip, as the shortest route is never the one we take when we go for a ride. We found a store that deals with Alpaca clothes and yarn. The owner actually raises alpacas, but she also imports clothing from Peru. She had the most wonderful store, everything was very soft a touchable. I found these two hanks of yarn that I fell in love with. I am making something soft and wonderful for me.




I just read a great book called “Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Burrows. It takes place a year after WWII ends as the island of Guernsey is recovering from the German occupation. The story is told in a letter format, but is charming and heartbreaking at the same time. No knitting in it, but a good story all the same. The book was started by Mary Ann Shaffer, but when she became too ill to complete the story, her niece Annie Burrows completed the book. I enjoyed the book, and the chatter regarding the occupation was terrible but interesting.

Have a great weekend!

1. I enjoy watching the rain, drinking margaritas, visiting with good friends, and knitting.

2. Is my stomach ache due to nerves is something I wonder about often lately.

3. In your heart, you knew _that my Di is very sick, but she still feels like a puppy in her gut.

4. Take a set of knitting needles, add a little yarn and you end up with socks.

5. Life has gifted me with with wonderful daughters and a great life.

6. Sitting in the sun with a book is an instant vacation.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to cleaning the living room in preparation for the new sofa, tomorrow my plans include work and knitting and Sunday, I want to knit and read!

All Hallows Eve Dishcloth Swap Questionnaire

It is time for another seasonal discloth exchange, go here if you want to play, they are usually a lot of fun :-)

Knotting Yarn
1. Do you knit or crochet? For how long?
I have knitted for 5 or 6 years, I can't get my fingers around crochet, though I have been trying.

2. What sort of needles or hooks do you enjoy using the most? Are there some you've been dying to try out and haven't?
I love Knitpicks Options, but I also like Addis, however I normally use bamboo for washcloths.

3. What kind of projects do you most enjoy? Small things you can take with you, or big complex ones that are just gorgeous when they're done?
I like both kinds of projects, there is room for both in my life. I like to work on the complex projects when I am sitting around in the evening, but small fast projects are great for when I am on the go, or in waiting rooms.

4. List one pattern for a dishcloth that you love to make, or just tell us about one you've made or received that you loved.
I just received a cloth from Angela in Dish Rag Tag that was beautiful, it was a soft pink and white, and it worked the pattern so well.

5. What are your 'must have' notions? Are there any notions you need or can never have enough of? Any that might make you cry if you owned more?
I always love stitch markers, the prettier the better, I will normally look for the prettiest or the oddest ones I have whenever I need them.

Petting Yarn
6. What are your favorite yarns to work with? Any you hate or are allergic to?
I am not allergic to any yarns, ones I dislike are acrylic, but I do use it out of necessity, and it works better for some projects. My ultimate favorite yarn is alpaca; I like it so much that I would like to have an alpaca ranch as a second career.

7. What colors do you like to use in projects? Any we'd never catch on your needles?
I like happy colors and I notice they knit up faster for me; I dislike working on dreary colors, especially in the winter when the weather gets dreary. I love yarns that are the color of the ocean, pastel pink, red, yellow, greens. . .

8. Any cottons you'd like to try you can't find by you, or just haven't gotten around to getting?
Blue Sky Organic

Halloween, Fall, and General Stuff
9. Do you like to use bar soap or shower gel more? What kinds of scents do you love? What kind do you hate?
I like gels, with earthy scents, not flowery, musk, vanilla, cinnamon.

10. What's more 'Halloweeny' - Ghosts, Pumpkins, or Witches?
Witches, though I was pumpkin for Halloween one year when I was 6 months pregnant.

11. What's your favorite Treat to get? Sweet or Salty? Anything you're allergic to or just hate?
I love Turtle Chex mix and milk chocolate, but I also like old fashioned candy, licorice bears, root beer barrels, etc.

12. What was your favorite Halloween Costume as a kid? As an adult??
A special clown costume that my mom made for me, one side was stripes and the other was polka dots and I loved it. I used it for pajamas when Halloween was over. As an adult, I would have to say the pumpkin costume or when I dressed up as the old woman in the shoe.

13. Are you on Ravelry? What's your ID? lazyknitter.

14. Anything else you'd like to be sure your pal knows? I like to read as well as knit, in fact sometimes I will read and knit at the same time. You can find out lot of stuff about me if you read my blog :-).

Monday Blues?

Grrrrr, I found the camera, then the battery was totally dead, and of course, who could find a charger in this mess, so I bought one on line and just received it when I got home from work tonight. The battery is charging as I type, which means that if the battery is not gonzo, I can start adding pictures again.

Why are such simple things so difficult? Sometimes it just seems like it would be easier to go to bed (with my knitting and a book of course) and stay there. Do you ever wonder why we try so hard at life? I am there right now, wondering if it is truly necessary for me to push to get things done, to learn my way around a new area, and to deny that I am missing my older daughter (who stayed in GA). Do you think this is moving blues-itis? I think I should go work on the collapsible hat I am making and pretend the blues don’t exist. :-)

I leave you with a picture of the Continental Divide from one of our little(?) drives.

Do You Like FREE Yarn?

Coveted Yarns is giving away free yarn as a contest on Ravelry. Just follow the link and join the Coveted Yarns group and you will be able to enter by telling them what your most coveted yarn is and please make sure you tell them lazyknitter sent you. Like everyone else I love alpaca, but there are soooo many yarns out there. . .

Wahoo, Another Contest and Another

Rita is having a contest at Keeping Knit Simple for her Blogaversary. She is giving a way yarn and a CD and all you have to do is post a comment, easy peasy. Let her know I sent you please.

Grace at Lovin Comfort Knits is also having a contest to celebrate her Blogaversary that you can enter here. To enter you have to tell her what your favorite free shawl pattern is and include the link in your comment (we all know how she loves shawls). Please let her know I sent you. :-)

The MOVE

Did you think I had decided to quit blogging? Woohooo, what a couple of weeks. We closed on our house on the 21st, but the old owner did not have everything out of it, so after we signed, we sat on the grass and waited for her to finish. It wasn’t bad and we were in the shade relaxing, if only we had known that it would be our last chance to sit for several days. That night we slept in the hotel, just because I hate sleeping on the floor. I was back at the house bright and early for the AC guy to start installing the necessary air conditioner, and an hour later this huge moving truck pulls up outside. He then proceeds to tell me that he has to empty this stuff, go back, and get the rest of it :-0.

They walked into the house and asked where the storage unit was. Did I tell you we were downsizing with this move? The house we left in GA was 2700 sq feet with a 2-car garage; this one is 1750 sq feet with a 1-car garage. That day they dropped off 727 boxes and enough furniture for a 5-bedroom house, by the end of the day we were punch drunk. As each box was brought off the truck, it was marked off the list and the man with the box was told were it went, well we could have saved our breath, because only half of it made it to the designated space. I found a toolbox in the master bath and dishes in the guest bedroom. I have a pictures of the boxes, and as soon as I can find the camera, I will post them.

In the middle of all this chaos, we decided we needed a day off, so we drove to Fr. Collins to visit Lambsun of Colorado, the yarn store that is in the Knitting Mysteries by Maggie Sefton. The store is great, but a little over my budget, there are rooms and yarns everywhere that just made me want to touch and feel. Fortunately, I had set a budget before I left the house that morning, or I would still be crying, because the yarn was great and I wanted to buy everything I touched. I did pick out some needles and yarn and started a new hat on the trip home. We took the long way home and ended up in the mountains at an alpaca store. I bought two of the most luscious skeins of yarn that I have ever touched (picture forthcoming, as soon as I find the camera again).

This move has not been without its share of mishaps, I fell out of bed one night and got rug burn and sprained a finger; Dennis fell down the stairs and ended up in bed for several days, and all of us are covered with bruises from trying to squeeze around boxes. In addition, there was more damage than normal on the furniture, but oh well, that is expected when you move.

Just when I thought things where coming together, I got my box for Dish Rag Tag, the person before me had created a great washcloth and put the prettiest stitch markers in the box, my favorite shade of pink. I sat down the minute I got the box and started knitting and turned the box around within 24 hours (go me!)

In case this sounds like too much whining, let me say that we have been very lucky with this move. Nothing too serious has happened, damages to furniture and bodies will recover and we are thankful to have a home (even if we have nowhere to sit but the beds). My favorite saying from a movie is, “Keep that sense of humor, its critical” and this move just proves it true.