More Mild Than Wild...

You Are More Mild Than Wild

You're confident, and you really aren't concerned with how "hot" you are. Other people's ideas of what's sexy don't concern you. And this is exactly what makes you attractive.

Are You Hot?

I took the "Are You Hot" test and the results are that I'm not that hot. But that's ok - like the Blogthing says, other people's ideas of what's sexy don't concern me. :-)

I actually took this "test" a few days ago. Tonight, I was reading Norma's blog and her post made me think of this Blogthing.

When you're a teenager and you're not one of the cool kids, you still want to be one (at least a little bit). You try to do little things to make you cooler - even though it'll never work. I mean really, the only time a teenager changes their social status drastically, is in the movies!

I was never one of the cool kids. I'm not very good at mindlessly following people. I never had the latest styles. I'm very much an introvert, so heavy partying never appealed to me.

But now. Now I'm older. And now I don't really care what others think. I do what I like to do (knit, read) and I spend time with people I like to be around. It doesn't matter if other people think it's odd that I knit everywhere I go. Any time I'm out somewhere, knitting, I run across another knitter (or someone who'd like to knit) - and I know that they get it.

Well, time for bed. The QP's Brownie troop is in a parade tomorrow and guess who is walking along with them, pulling a wagon? Yep. Me. Yippee! 1st, 2nd & 3rd graders, walking miles & carrying flags. Should be interesting.

MAKE it a great day!

More Springtime Goodness!

Yes. More garden pictures. You can never see too many flower pictures, right? I'm amazed at how the gardens change every day. Now that we've had rain, thing'll really start growing.

I just love pictures of flowers with raindrops on them!

Here's a view of the garden. You'll notice the red tulips I took pictures of (last week?). Just since I took these pictures (on Sunday), the pink and light yellow tulips are open.

Here's the wisteria. It's starting to get flowers. When it's in full bloom, you'll wonder how that thing it's growing on (sorry - can't think of what it's called) stays standing!

Here's a front view of the "way back" garden. This is beside the wisteria. We call this garden "Tabitha's Garden". Tabitha was our cat. She had to be put to sleep several years ago (old age; her kidneys were giving out). There's a stepping stone in this garden that lists her name & birth & death dates.
Here's the back view of Tabitha's Garden.

Sunday I was outside taking pictures.

Early Monday morning (4AM - yes, I keep track of these things) I woke up with an intestinal flu (at least, that's what I think it was). Vomiting and diahhria (never can spell that word!) every hour for 11 hours. Talk about fun. Vomiting is my least favorite thing to do. I mean, I never get drunk because I don't like to vomit.

Thankfully, my Dad got the QP to school, picked her up from the busstop, after school and got supper for her. I slept (in between trips to the bathroom) all day. When it finally stopped, I waited another 3 hours til I tried ice chips. I was soooo thirsty by this time. Oh! And I was running a fever all day. Teeth - chattering, shivering cold. The kind of cold you can't get warm from because it's inside you.

Luckily the QP is not really young. I laid on a futon in the living room (with 2 shawls, 2 throw-sized blankets, 2 bed-sized blankets (one of them, wool) and a sweatshirt jacket on - and I was still cold!) and dozed in & out while the QP watched TV til it was time for her to go to bed. I don't know what I would have done if she were younger & needed more attention. I was so weak and tired. I don't remember ever feeling as bad as I did yesterday. I usually don't get these kinds of things. I have allergies & tend to get sinus infections, but never get colds and rarely the flu. The last time I had the flu was 17 years ago! And when I went to bed last night, I had this terrible headache. I woke up every hour or so, all night.

Today I feel better. I ate today, and have been trying to replenish fluids. But now I hurt. My whole abdominal area hurts, my throat hurts, when I take a deep breath it hurts, and my head still hurts, off and on. And I still feel weak & tired.

So, while all that was going on, I missed alot of stuff, here in Blogland. Here are a few of the things I missed.

Scout had a Colorway Contest - it's ok - I don't win contests, anyway!

Carole had pictures of an event at Classic Yarns in Grafton.

Franklin talked about his dreams and Dolores mentioned purchasing a bikini.

Dave showed some awesome pictures of Boston & also of his hand-dyed yarn.

Grumperina introduced us to King Rraarrrr!

MAKE it a great day!

Ramblings...

I saw this link on Norma's blog. Watch the video & listen to the song. Very interesting. I've often wondered why more of the "mainstream" artists (now) don't have politically conscience songs. I know that Prince's last album (Musicology) had some politically conscience songs, but I haven't heard many other artists singing about what's going on in the world right now.

Sorry - sometimes I think I should have been in my 20's in the mid-late 60's. Of course, since I feel that (in the US), we're going back to the 50's (with laws and things), then does that mean that I'll have my chance to do the whole 60's thing in 10 years or so?

Yes well. This is supposed to be a knitting blog. I haven't been doing alot of knitting lately. I need to get to work on the items I'm donating to the auction at the QP's school. I looked at a calendar today - I only have about 2 more weeks to get the stuff finished!

It rained here most of the weekend. We needed rain - in Pennsylvania, if it doesn't rain every week, we have a drought- I grew up in Southern California, so this type of drought thinking still seems odd to me! I mean, in SoCal, you can go for months or years without rain. Different worlds.

This afternoon, the rain finally stopped, so I went outside and took some more garden/flower pictures. I don't have them uploaded yet, though. Maybe I'll get that done tomorrow.

MAKE it a great day!

Dye-O-Rama!

The Dye-O-Rama Swap sign up is officially open - so go sign up!! It will only be open for 48 hours. Hurry! What?? You don't know where to go to sign up? Click here to go to Scout's blog, and follow her links to the sign up page. While you're there, check out some of the amazing yarn she's dyed. I can't wait to start dyeing yarn!

MAKE it a great day!

Spring has sprung!

A while back, there was the Backyard Greetings along. Click here to see mine, if you don't remember it. At that time, my backyard was pretty boring. Well, Spring has sprung and the gardens are starting to get interesting! Take a look at the pictures.

The tulips in the morning.

The garden, as it looks in the morning.

The tulips in the afternoon.

The garden, as it looks in the afternoon.

This garden is in the "way back" yard. On the right side of the picture is a huge wisteria (it's not blooming yet - just wait!).

Behind these bushes is the parking lot of the church that's next door. The forsythia (yellow bush) is actually on the church's property.

These cute little shoots are ferns. I took this picture to record how much (and how quickly!) they will grow. This whole area is ferns - they grow around a tree - and they get huge!

I hope you enjoyed your little picture tour of my backyard. I'm sure I'll have more pictures as Spring & Summer go by.

As some of you know, Wednesday nights I have Nutty Knitters "meetings". A group of us get together & knit (or crochet) Prayer Shawls. Well, tonight I started a Nutty Knitters blog. On it, I plan to show shawls we've completed, tell about the group, have some Nutty Knitter pictures (if the group members agree), and let people know how they can contribute. Click here to visit the blog - be sure to check back often - I'll be updating it as I get new information.

MAKE it a great day!

Some randomness

I hope you all had a great weekend. The Queen Princess had off school Friday & today. She was happy to have 4 days off. The party for her classroom on Thursday went well.

Now for a bit of randomness (since I don't have any really exciting things to share with you!).

I finished my second sock- S A TUR DAY... NIGHT! - remember that song, by the Bay City Rollers?? If you weren't alive (or weren't very old) when that song was out, don't tell me! Anyway. I finished my second sock. This one is an ankle length sock & I have about half a skein of yarn left over (I don't have a scale, so I don't know exactly how much was left over - I'm just guessing about the half a skein). The knitting is much more uniform on this sock (see the picture showing both of the socks). I love the leg length. I want to finish its mate by Wednesday, so that I can wear the pair to my Nutty Knitters group.



Last week, I was visiting a neighbor. She was in the process of making Easter eggs. She takes styrofoam eggs and pins sequins & beads all over the egg. They look so cool. She's an artist (she does watercolor, acrylics and pencil drawings) and has a good eye for color. She doesn't knit, though. Anyway. She was talking about selling these eggs in one of the local gift stores and said that she needs a way to present them. This got me thinking about felted knit baskets. So I went home, got out some wool yarn, and started to knit a basket. The picture shows the end result. It's a little too floppy for me. So I'm thinking of ways to add some stiffness to the sides, bottom and handle. Any suggestions?

My next basket will be a little smaller. And probably without a handle. I'm thinking these would be great for Christmas, Easter, everyday gift baskets. I'd just use different colors. I'm also thinking that some needle felting would look nice on these (random designs, tulips, eggs, flowers, stars, etc.). I also have some wooden beads which would look nice, sewn onto the basket.

Years ago, I got some wooden beads from a great-Uncle. Well, from his estate, when he passed away. The executor wasn't interested in trying to sell these things (beads, string for the beads, patterns). My great-Uncle had TB as a child & spent time in an institution. While there, he made beaded things (bags, purses,etc.). One year I made Christmas ornaments from some of the beads (using a portion of a pattern for a beaded purse). Recently I was shopping for clothing for the QP and noticed that alot of the clothing had wooden beads on - and that there were even beaded purses. I still have alot of beads left. Now I think of ways to add them to my knitted items.

I always have projects in my mind. Things I see. Things I think of (like the felted basket). Things I think of changing/adding/deleting from a pattern. I can never just knit something. My mind always thinks of ways to tweak it - or of other things to make, using a certain technique. I have more projects in my mind than I'll probably ever be able to finish.

Having said that, I plan on joining the Dye - O - Rama Swap that Scout is starting. The official sign-up will start Thursday, April 20th at 6PM (MST). Sign-ups will be accepted for 48 hours. There will also be a website just for the Dye - O - Rama Swap. This will be so much fun! I've been wanting to try dyeing yarn, and this is the perfect opportunity. The button for the Dye - O - Rama has been moved to the bottom of my blog (it was fighting with the blog text). If you're interested, be sure to sign up on the 20th!

Is anyone going to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival? If so, Cara has arranged for a get-together of bloggers. It will be on Saturday, May 6th at 1:30 PM, at the Stage Area. If you want to participate, let Cara know.

That's all for tonight. MAKE it a great day!

I'll try this again!

I had this post all typed out, links all added, all ready to go, last night. Then I couldn't post it! My blog is not cooperating with me lately!

First, you may notice the Dye-O-Rama button on the sidebar. Scout has been dyeing all this beautiful yarn and she wants to draw others into her addiction. :-) So, I joined. I mean, who doesn't need another addiction???

Second, I saw this meme on Vicki's blog (yesterday, I think) and thought it was cool. Here's how it works.

Do a Wikipedia search of your birthdate, minus the year; list three interesting events, three people who were born, and three people who died on that day.

3 Events
1876 - Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for an invention he calls the telephone.
1969 - Golda Meir elected as the first female Prime Minister of Isreal.
2005 - Mass protest outside the National Assembly of Kuwait building for women's voting rights in Kuwait.

3 Births
1946 - Peter Wolf, American musician (J Geils Band)
1952 - Ernie Isley, American guitarist (the Isley Brothers)
1952 - Lynn Swann, American football player (and running for PA Governor)

3 Deaths
322BC - Aristolte, philosopher
1967 - Alice B. Toklas, American companion to Gertrude Stein
1986 - Jacob Javits, American politician

Now I'm off to play in the sunshine/warm weather! MAKE it a great day!

G is for...

Meet Goldie. Last summer, my parents took the QP to one of the local fairs. She came home with Goldie, this aquarium, gravel, plants, fish food, a net & a book about caring for goldfish.
When we first got Goldie, she was very small and part of her tail looked as if it had been bitten off. The tail grew back and Goldie is now huge.

The QP is responsible for feeding Goldie every day. I take care of changing the filter & cleaning the aquarium. Smokey (our cat) likes to sit on the floor and look up at Goldie. He doesn't try to get at her, just watches.

I'm one of the room parents for the QP's class and I'm in charge of the Easter party (tomorrow afternoon). So, today I'll be baking cupcakes, filling plastic Easter eggs for an egg hunt, and getting food for the party.

MAKE it a great day!

Remember the needles...

Remember my most excellent Secret Pal gift of a full set of hand-carved, wooden knitting neeldles? Remember how very awesome they are? Well. They came from Gracie & Company. My SP, Michele & her hubby, Scott, have the company. Scott makes the needles.

Anyway. Gracie & Company is having a contest and you can win a full set of hand-made knitting needles!! Click here for the contest rules.

Go. Check out Michele's blog. Get the contest details! Win your very own set of wooden knitting needles!

MAKE it a great day!

It's a sock!

Remember the sock I started? Well, here it is - finished! And yes, that part of my desk is always that messy.

I knit this using the Magic Loop method.
The pattern: "Winter Socks" from the Magic Loop booklet.
The yarn: Regia Crazy Color - 6 fadig (whatever a fadig is).
The needle: US2 (2.5 mm) 40" Inox circular. I used up most of the skein for this one sock.

There will not be a mate to this sock. Here's why:
1. When I started the leg, I was knitting kind of loose. The stitches got tighter & more uniform as I knit the sock. So when you lay the leg out flat, it's wider in one section than in the rest.
2. I prefer a shorter leg. I like socks that end around my ankle.

I've been wearing this sock, though. Yes, just this one sock. I wear one of my regular socks on the other foot. Don't laugh! With my sneakers & jeans, no-one can tell.

I decided to have this sock as my "practice" sock (I guess it can hang out with that "practice" mitten I made!) and knit two more (with shorter legs). I've already cast on for the first. I may soon be casting on for a sock from "Sensational Knitted Socks", too. And then there's always the Jaywalker...so many socks to knit!!

Enough for now. Today's my Dad's birthday, so we're taking him out to eat. Plus, there's a Science Fair at the QP's school tonight.

MAKE it a great day!

It's Flash Your Stash Day!

Here, we have the Queen Princess pushing the sock yarn on the swing. They were having fun.

The Fun Fur didn't want to be left out of the fun, so they all jumped on the other swing. It was windy enough that they didn't need to be pushed.

This is the Knit Picks yarn - they're a close-knit group!.

The discount yarn and the odd Sugar 'n Cream ball went for a walk in the garden. They decided the leaves needed some additional color.

The Noro Kochoran and the Nature Wool were hanging out in the apricot tree...

while the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and Peru DK were in another branch of the tree.

Here's a closeup of the scarf I knitted for the auction at the QP's school...

and here it is, again, hanging out with various skeins of yarn.

The Lion Brand Homespun simply relaxed on the chair.

That's it for the stash's fun-filled day outside. It was quite windy and we had a few accidents. Like the Kochoran being blown out of the apricot tree. And the basket being blown into the grass. But, all-in-all, it was a fun time outside.

I have three more pictures for you. Two are of the "empty" Stash Home. The left side & the right side. The other is of the Stash Home, once everyone returned from their exciting outdoor adventure.

Those of you who had to spend this past week photographing your stash - you don't have to laugh at mine! :-) Maybe next year it'll take me a week to get it all photographed.

MAKE it a great day!