Manic Monday

It snowed again this morning. I wish I could say home and read again. . .


Do you enjoy brain teasers or do you find them frustrating?
It depends on my mood, sometimes I can sit and do them for ever and other times I just have to get up and move.

Do you have any unusual collections?
Nope

What do people notice about you within the first hour of meeting you (other than appearance)?
I don’t know, that I like to laugh? listen? or. . .

Sunday Blather

I finally packaged up the stuff that has been waiting around for me to mail. You remember the little medicine bags for this project? They have been waiting for me to finish sewing the buttons on. I procrastinate way too much! They are now stuffed with charms and ready to go to the PO tomorrow. I hope that Shelly will be able to put them to good use.

I have done nothing else this weekend but knit and read (mostly read). I finished both Twilight and New Moon, but no grocery shopping or housework. Oh, and I did fix the vacuum. I hate vacuums, have you ever noticed what a pain in the butt they are to keep working? I hate working on them and I hate cleaning them, yuck.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

It snowed all night Thursday, my barrels in the front yard looked like soufflés instead of flower pots, and the bench was way too snowy to sit on. The dogs were not happy about going outside; the snow was up over the door frame by almost 5 inches, so they had to plow their way through it. Poor Lola stayed in Di’s footprints so the snow did not swallow her up.By evening the sun had been up and the snow had begun to melt, the poor little daffodils are trying to bravely poke their sunny heads out of the snow, but I am not sure if they will recover this year. There was still enough snow for me to get to shovel (I bought the my first snow shovel) some of the driveway and walkway so that it did not ice over during the night.

My office building was closed and my Internet was down, so no work me, boooohoooo. . . NOT! But the yarn mess is almost ready to be wound into a cake (?) of yarn. :-)


This week, Jeannette took the first sentence in 6 of her favorite books...you fill them in...with the right words or even better, my responses are in bold.

And...here we go!

1. "In a hole in the ground there lived a pretty flower waiting to come to life in the spring."

2. "I am freezing cold, but that ain't no matter."

3. "After dark the rain began to fall again, I closed my self in the house and sat down to knit."

4. "I received a booty of yarn from the hold of the Spanish galleon."

5. "There was a hand in the darkness, and it was holding a lamp to guide me."

6. "Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, so I try to always suspect lolol."

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to knitting, tomorrow my plans include nothing and Sunday, I want to knit!

Snow

I woke up to snow this morning, so I decided to work from home, not a big deal and something we are authorized to do. HOWEVER, at 10:00 I received an email tell me the building was closed and all employees were being sent home. BUT, since I decided to work at home today, this meant I got to put in the full 10 hour day, I was not being sent home and got to keep on slogging away at my computer. Being the good government employee that I am, I couldn’t stop and knit, or make a pot of soup, or even work on my snarled yarn mess. Don’t ya hate it when you make a bad decision like this. . .

It is still snowing (since 6am) and it is getting very deep. For a while there where white out conditions, I could not see past the deck, nor across the greenbelt and it is supposed to snow until tomorrow morning. Did someone forget to mention that it is the end of March?


These pictures are of the snow in the front yard. Di stepped off the walkway and fell to her chest in the snow since it is deeper in the grassy areas than on the concrete. It is hard to believe that it was in the 70’s last week. Look at the sad little daffodil poking its head out of all that snow on the barrel. I wonder how deep it will be in the morning.
This is how deep it is on the deck. I had to open the door (to shake a rug that my loverly cats got too fuzzy to deal with) and a foot of snow fell on the oak floor, grrrr.

My day is almost over (I decided I deserve a lunch break today) so I guess I will go work on the sweater of many stitches.

Have a great day!

Blather and Manic Monday

Well, between knitting the sweater of many stitches, watching Twilight and trying to untangle the mess of sea color yarn, I managed to find time to read this weekend. Grace suggested this book and I loved it. Normally when I read a mystery, I can figure out the end by at least the halfway point in the book (except for Stephen King and Agatha Christie) but I did not who did it until the end, which was great. It kept me entertained and made me want to knit when they described the yarn in the knitting shop. I will be looking for more books by this writer, Sally Goldenbaum.


Do you screen your phone calls?
Of course, why else was caller ID invented.

When was the last time you lost your temper?
Yesterday, I didn’t feel well and it felt like the whole world was being stupid. I eventually realized that it was me that was being stupid and went home and went back to bed.

When you're lost, do you ask for directions?
Well, it depends, if I am lost finding a location, I am stupid since I have a GPS for my car. If I am lost in life, I do sometimes ask for directions, but don’t always receive the answer I want or understand.

I Can't Believe I Did it!

I succumbed!

I bought the DVD of Twilight early Saturday and I have watched it 3 times. I am in love. Edward is the man. How did I resist for so long? I have now purchased the book and started reading it since so many people say that it is better than the movie.

I am still working on the sweater of many stitches, but. . .

Spring, Knitting, and Friday Fillins

Happy Spring to everyone! It was a gloomy day here but at least it was warm.


I finally finished the Mystery Yarn ball for my pal; I hope she likes it, there are some snacky goodies, reading goodies and reading goodies in the yarn. I had to re-roll it a couple of times and tangled the yarn and made a mess, but I eventually got it corrected, so not it is wrapped and ready to go in the mail. I hope I don’t have as much trouble as when I tried to mail stuff to Canada last time. Penny likes pink, so that is the general theme of the thing and it looked awful, (how do you wrap a book, etc. in one skein of yarn?)

I am still slogging away on the sweater of many stitches, I am glad that it is started with an invisible cast on, it will make it easier if I don’t have as much done as I am supposed to when I go to class on Monday night. I am loving the whole thing, I am just a slow knitter.



1. Why do we have to act grown up all the time?

2. Reading, knitting, and eating chocolate are now habits.

3. I have a zillion projects that I want to get to, however. . .

4. I had never heard the phrase "not the brightest bulb in the box" and it cracked me up the first time I heard it(and perfectly described the person being discussed).

5. I guess I will go clean the litter box, the way I always do.

6. How was I to know that I would have to work when I grew up.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner out with my daughter, tomorrow my plans include chores and knitting, and Sunday, I want to knit and read!

Have a great weekend!

What a Mess

I am so good, I have started working on my yarn mess already; however I think the yarn might win in this case. I do not mind cutting a little bit, but this one is killing me. If I have to cut it too much it won’t be worth using and if I don’t I won’t be able to untangle it. I love the color, it reminds me of the sea, and it would be a shame to not be able to use the yarn.



I am still beavering away on my sweater of many stitches. I know I will finish it, because I had to pay for the class, I am just hoping it is wearable once it is complete. Here is a pix of the swatch, but it does not show the wonderful fabric and color that the Cashcotton is giving me, and of course it is a blurry mess.


I am going to go get ready to hit a pub and celebrate. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Chatter and Manic Monday

Aren’t the daffodils gorgeous? The weather here is wonderful right now, I was able to sit on the park bench and enjoy the sun in the front yard on Sunday.



Sunday was my birthday and I got the most wonderful gift from DD1, can you see them
in the cruddy pictures. I have so many hanks of yarn that have not been touched, because I was too lazy to wind etc. Now I can get it done and use the yarn. . . I see lots of sock knitting and some lace knitting in my future, no excuses now. DD2 took me to the spa and got me a pedicure and a manicure that were wonderful, and she took me out to dinner. It was a great day!
As you can see by this mess of yarn, I have my work cut out for me :-)




I have been working on the sweater for my class; this is turning out to be the sweater that does not want to be knit. I am sure that it will not fit or there will be something wrong with it, IF it is ever finished. My first invisible cast-on looked awful, so I took it off the needles, rewound the yarn and started over. Next, the devil cat pulled off half of the stitches, so I had to gently pick all of them up, making sure they weren’t twisted and I did not miss any. Let’s see, what happened next. . Oh ya, the connecter fell apart from the cable on my Options, which took me another forever to fix, and finally, the devil cat attacked again. I am not careless when I knit, so I am wondering if it is just the Ides of March or if I am sabotaging myself. The Cashcotton is wonderful and I love the fabric that is slooooowly coming to life, but it is a big sweater for a fluffy person which means there must be lots of stitches. I tried to take a picture of it, but of course it looks really crumby, maybe I can try again tomorrow. Oh well, keep that sense of humor, its critical. lolololol

BTW- I called Knitpicks this morning and they are shipping me a new cable with correctly attached connectors ASAP. I love this company!


Are you a saver or spender? Since I am still buying yarn I must be a spender.

Do you prefer to walk around barefoot in your home? Socks? Shoes? I walk barefoot whenever I can, I hate shoes, guess that comes from spending so much time at the beach when I was young.

Do you talk to yourself? Yes, is there a problem with that? I also answer myself, which does not scare me at all.

Firday Fillins and Knitting

1. When I look to the left, I see another computer, a printer, and a plant.

2. The living room is the room that has the best view in my home.

3. Let it work itself out.

4. I hate having to be proud of “done dirt cheap!”

5. Voting and following the law is a responsibility that all qualified citizens must share.

6. If you have any chocolate feel free to send it to me.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to knitting and eating chocolate, tomorrow my plans include hanging shelves in the garage and more knitting and Sunday, I want to celebrate life, it’s my birthday:-)!

I went to my knitting class the other night and I loved it. I do like the LYS; however it is a wee bit pricey when I am so used to using the internet for shopping. The people I met were very nice and the employees were friendly. I am glad that my first impression was wrong. Anyway, we discussed measurements and swatching and started our own sweaters. I used the invisible cast on for the first time and it is much easier than it looks. I have a week and a half to get about 8 inches of a very large sweater (with small yarn) completed. I love this class! I have to get back to my knitting.

Have a great weekend.

Whiskers on Wednesday

This is a WOW post with no pictures:-). Remember when I posted about Onyx, the devil cat and her potholders, here? I have decided that she is just bored and likes to be mean. First, the minute she sees me with the camera, she drops the potholder and runs the other way, though I have never teased her with the potholder. This means the entire world is unable to see her evil cuteness. Now, she drops the potholder on my head at least once a day, the fiend. On top of that, she has decided she likes sleeping under the covers, which is not a problem; however, occasionally she will reach out and bat at my fingers, waking me up. I am almost ready to put all animals out of my room and close the doors at night, but they would just knot at the door or meow or bark until I am forced to let them back in. Yesterday, I laid on the couch to watch the news, I had Di at my feet, Lola at my hip, and Onyx was on my neck, this would have been okay if I had a neck, but it is almost none existent, so I was choking when I woke up (yes, it turned into a little nap). When I sit, she sits on me now, and knitting or reading must be accomplished around her, it is very funny. Jack (who is a very large and furry cat) also likes to sit on me, so he stretches out and lays half on me and half off on the left side, while Onyx sits right in the middle of my chest.

Can you tell I have very spoiled babies? Nevertheless, I cannot imagine life without them . . .

Happy knitting.

Blather

Don't you love a title called blather? It is so hard for me to pick a title for these posts and blather covers it pretty well.

It snowed here last night! It is kind of funny since I entered a contest yesterday telling how I know when spring is here. lolol So of course it is very cold this morning. I guess this is what comes from bragging about our warm weather a couple of weeks ago. Shame on me. . . . not. :-)

I have forgotten to tell you about the mystery ball swap from the WhoDuKnit group. This is how Jane described it- “You take one skein of yarn, or two if it's a very small skein, and wind or re-wind it up into a ball. As you wind you add little goodies to the yarn ball. Sometimes these balls look more like lumps - but that's okay! After all of the goodies are wound into the ball, you send it off to your pal along with a mystery pattern for your pal to knit with the yarn. As she/he knits the pattern the goodies fall out. Stash yarn is fine to use. The goodies can be anything from stitch markers, row counters, cable needles, handmade items, candy, charms, buttons, stamps, stickers, jokes, to whatever.” This sounds like fun and I have been gathering goodies to add to the ball for my swapper. I ordered a couple of last minute things from Knitpicks yesterday and when that arrives I will be able to wind the yarn around the stuff. I wonder, is it bloggers who are so ingenious or is it because they are knitters or maybe both?

I still haven’t decided what to do this weekend with the additional time off, I will probably end up working in the garden, but I would love to go to the beach for a few days. This is what happens when a sudden decision is made with no plans.
Have a great day!

Blather, Manic Monday, and Contests

I started my homework swatching for my class on Wednesday; I am still not sure which fabric I like best. I guess I will take a poll in the class and see what they think. It’s wonderful to have such definite opinions about important things. :-) I am still trying to decide what to do with my time off at the end of the week. I will have 5 glorious days to myself to do exactly what I want to do; the problem is I cant think of anything. Any suggestions?

I forgot to tell you, I read a couple of books last week, one of which I found out about from Grace. That one was the Sweetgum Knit Lit Society by Beth Patillo and it was a heartwarming book, I enjoyed it. I also read Fed Up by Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant; it was a mystery about chefs, foods and romance. It wasn’t Agatha Christie, however it was entertaining.


What would you do with an extra hour each day?
Knit
Do you wear a watch? If so, tell us about it. If not, how do you keep track of time?
I don’t wear a watch, if I need to track time I use my cell phone. I try not to pay attention to time unless I am at work and have deadlines.
If it were possible, would you want to know how many days you had left to live?
No, I don’t want to know how many days I have left; I would just worry about it. I like not really knowing what will happen in the future and just living my life as it happens, with goals and wants.

Contests-

Shelley is having a contest here, all you have to do is leave her a comment stating-"You know spring's coming/or it is spring when......" Please tell her I sent you.

Irish Eyes is having The nearly Thousandth post Contest, here. All you have to do is leave a comment about lace, she is trying to get her lace mojo going so she can complete a lace project. Please let her know I sent you.

Blather

What a week, no one should have to live like that. I have finished most of my training for the year (I have to take a zillion hours a year to maintain my warrant). It is very hard to sit still when I know that my desk, voicemail and email are full of people needing something. they did bring in a new instruction on Wednesday who was great. He kept the group engaged and active during the rest of the training, which was much easier than the first 2 days were. He made it fun, but I knew there was work waiting, so I had to work for at least 2 to 3 hours every night so that I could stay somewhat kept up.

I did take time to go to Elann and get my Cashcotton and it is wonderful. I cannot wait to start a sweater for me out of it. I think I will use it for the class I am taking (it starts Wednesday night) "Knit to Fit". I need to get my swatches done for the class so after I am done with work today, I am starting that. I am not sure what size needles I want to use, the label states US 6, but I think I might try 7s to see how the fabric turns out. I want to be able to wear it over a camisole to the office in the spring and summer, so I do not want it to be too heavy.

I have taken off 4 days next week to knit, to sight see, and to just enjoy (celebrate) life. I am starting an afghan, plus the sweater for the class; I also want to make a few market bags for shopping. I just discovered that King Soopers discounts 5 cents off the total order for every bag you do not use from them. So market bags are a necessity. I plan on using this pattern and I am hoping it stretches width ways and not just lengthwise. I hate it when my bags drag on the ground. I purchased several cones of Peaches and Cream cotton from Elmore Pisgah a couple of years ago (I wanted to make a rug)and it will be perfect for the bag. Now to get started, whoooya!

See you in the funny papers!

Busy

I am in training again this week and it is miserable. We are discussing the Service Contract Act, but the worst part is the instructor. Have you ever had a lawyer for an instructor? 'Nuff said???

I signed up for a knitting class at the LYS near my home. I have only been in there a couple of times and I am not really sure if I like it or not, but I do want to give it a fair chance. I am taking a class called Knitting to Fit, because it is so difficult to find good patterns or patterns that I like for "fluffy" people. I find a pattern I really like and it only will go to a size Large, but the weird part is that the pattern would look great on a "fluffy" person. This is very irritating and has caused me to quit buying magazines or books unless the patterns will cover "fluffy" people. :-) I hope the class turns out well.

I got this quiz off of Aunt Kathy-

Your Word is "Love"

You see life as possibility to form deep connections with a few people. Relationships are the center of your world, and you always take time to bond with those you love. You are caring and giving. You enjoy helping those you love. And when it comes to romantic love, you feel passionately ... even in a very long term relationship.

What's Your Word?

Traveling Baby Blanket

I finished my portion of the Traveling Baby Blanket from the WhoDuKnit group and it will be mailed out tomorrow morning. Yeah!



Pictures of the medicines bags tomorrow, camera battery just died (as you can tell by the cruddy picture). But they are completed and ready to go.

BTW- The high was a beautiful 65 degrees here today :-)

This has been a busy weekend, did not get to spend a bunch of time knitting, nor did the house get cleaned, but the vet and out to dinner happened. :-)

I hope you had a great weekend!