Scarf!!

The scarf I knitted is up on the KnitPicks website!! Here's the main page, and here's the individual project page. The individual shot isn't that great,(for some reason they took a picture of the backside for that shot) but it's there!! Woohoo!!! 70 inches of Cartridge Belt Rib...yep, that was a tough one!

The main page is the cover for the new catalog, which should be mailing soon! :-)

I'm getting ready to leave for Dublin, Ohio (just outside of Columbus) for Kelson's state band competition. They play at 3:30, and it's about a 2 hour drive down. I'm hoping to get some knitting done while the other bands are playing...

That's better!

This makes me feel much better!

Yes, that's $3.25 for almost 21.8 gallons of gas. :-) I love Giant Eagle's gas program!

Gracie does NOT like Kelson's tuba. It's either making noises, or it's shiny and reflecty and scary...

Tick won the battle of the bone this evening. It doesn't matter that it looks like a cow exploded in my house; they both wanted *this* particular bone.
He wandered around like this for 10 or 15 minutes before Gracie finally got distracted with something else. No matter that it's bigger than his head; he won it fair and square, and he wasn't about to give it up!

Knitting crankiness

Well, they announced the winners of the Knitty calendar contest. This was my entry. I really didn't think that I would win, although I thought that the pictures came out kind of cute. I wasn't prepared for the entries that did win, though. Ummmm....how do I put this tactfully? Well, I can't. The best way, I think, is to see the winners for yourself. Go here and click on "view calendar pages."

I guess I misread the directions for the contest. I *thought* it said that you had to show off a Knitty project in a creative way, but in a way that shows the project well. A couple of the pictures were nice, but the rest? I didn't realize that the directions *really* said "it doesn't matter what the actual project looks like, as long as the picture is bizarre."

To quote my dad: "I wouldn't hang that calendar hanging on a garage wall." :-)

Baby Norgi strikes again!

My niece Katie came into town for a visit, and she brought her son Brandon. Brandon was the original recipient of the Baby Norgi. Katie very kindly loaned the sweater back to me so I could enter it into the fair, and I finally got the chance to return it to her. The weather's finally perfect for the sweater, but since he's growing so fast, I was afraid it wasn't going to fit him anymore. My worries were unfounded, though...




Isn't he adorable?





The pattern for this wonderful sweater is here. Wendy Johnson is a great designer!!

Gift Elf!!!

Tatjana is my Knitter's Review Gift Elf, and she is awesome!! On my doorstep today was a package from Germany, and when I opened it, this is what I found:

My extremely talented gift elf *made* me a roll-up circular needle case!! The picture doesn't begin to do it justice. The section on the right side is a zipper pouch! It is absolutely gorgeous, and will get lots and lots of use. :-) How did she know that I needed a needle case for my circulars?

This really cool skein of yarn was in the package.

You can't tell too much from the picture, but it's 2 tones of blue, and a kind of thick/thin spun yarn. My oldest son has already requested a hat made from this skein, because the main shade of blue is the exact same shade as his high school's colors! I'm starting to wonder about my gift elf's psychic abilities...

These were tucked into the needle case A whole bunch of Inox needles, and a set of size 11 Susanne's! Woohoo!!! My elf knows that Inox are my absolute favorite needle, and I've never tried Susanne's - although I've heard lots of good things about them. And HOW did she know that my shawl is outgrowing the cord on my size 7 H&S needles, and I was just getting ready to go buy a set of 100cm Inox? I'm getting more and more convinced that Tatjana, does, indeed, possess the power to read minds...

And as final proof of her psychic abilities, she included these in the package German Chocolate!!!! Big, huge, gigantic (did I mention they were big?) bars of honest-to-goodness german chocolate!

I have the coolest gift elf in all of KR. :-)

Holy Cow

I think I need a 12-step program or something ("Hello, my name is Kim, and I'm a yarn-a-holic"). I'm cleaning out the computer/fiber room so the new windows can be installed next week, and here's what I came up with. Every one of these is stuffed to the gills... They need to be reorganized in their tubs, but at least they're in tubs! My cone yarns are not included in these tubs - they're on a shelf. Also missing from this picture are my projects-in-progress, which filled one of those XXL Ziploc bags to about 2/3. There's not a speck of acrylic in these tubs. I filled a 13-gallon garbage bag with the synthetics, and I'm going to gift them to my 15 year old niece. I taught her how to knit about a month ago and she's completely, utterly hooked, so I know those yarns will be put to use.

My spinning fibers aren't here, either - I have many tubs of processed fleece. I need to spend more time spinning; I haven't had my drum carder out in months!

I need to win the lottery or something, so I can stay home and play with my fiber.

Secret Pal Strikes Again!

The mailman brought me a box, and in that box was a cellophane gift bag. Inside the gift bag was this:

Coffee themed, personalized stitch markers!! These are just too cool!! And they come with a cute little tin for keeping them organized. Coffee and knitting - the two things that I need to get through the day. Thank you very much, Secret Pal!! :-)

I finished the back of the Twist sweater, and have cast on for the front. The whole concept of knitting things in pieces really kinda throws me, because I haven't knit anything in pieces since...the last sweater I made for KnitPicks. It's not the finishing that gets me, because I really don't mind finishing and I'm fairly good at it; it's just that I hate mass quantities of purling. This is actually a very nice sweater design - Kim Hargreaves does really nice shaping in the pattern. When I make another one - in wool, this time - I'm going to convert it to knitting in the round.

I got my postcard for next year's Knitting Camp in the mail today!! It's only October, and I can't wait until next July!!!!! Now I have to decide which session I'm going to attend. When is everybody else planning to go?

And, just because he's cute, I present Itty-Bitty (formerly known on this blog as Baloo).

I've been tagged...

BlueADT (the knitting Airedale owner in England) has tagged me... so here goes nuthin'!

10 YEARS AGO
I was living in a rented farmhouse 2 miles from where I grew up. My heating bill was $400/month every winter, because my moron landlord refused to admit that the 50 year old propane furnace in the basement was a piece of garbage. My youngest son was 9 months old, and my oldest was 3. I was working as an executive secretary for a steel company (assisant to the VP) and I hated every minute of it.

5 YEARS AGO
We were adjusting to living in my mother-in-law's basement. We had moved into another, bigger farmhouse 3 years before, and the psychotic bitch of a landlord and her whipped husband decided to sell the house out from under us. My MIL had a heart attack the previous May, so it worked out well - we were able to help her around the house, and she, for the most part, let us be. I had quit my job and gone back to get my teaching certificate, and I was subbing all over Medina County.

1 YEAR AGO
Working at my current high school as the in-school suspension teacher. We had bought a house 10 houses down the street from my MIL, so my kids didn't have to change schools - or even bus stops. We're still close enough that we can help her if needed

FIVE SNACKS
black olives, popcorn, dark chocolate, tortilla chips, cheese cubes

FIVE SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO
1.We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
2.Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel
3.Me & Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
4.Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner - Warren Zevon
5. Anything the Statler Brothers ever did (this is Mom and Dad's fault! )

FIVE THINGS I WOULD DO WITH $100 MILLION
1.Pay off the mortgages of everybody I'm directly related to
2.Walk up to the people who now own my grandparent's property in Michigan and say "Here's a million dollars. Get the hell out."
3. Build a house on a big piece of property in southern Ohio - to let the Airedales run
4. Open a yarn shop. There isn't one within 30 miles of here.
5. Make sure college educations are paid for, and bank the rest

FIVE PLACES TO RUN AWAY TO
1. My grandparents' old place in Michigan - 80 acres in the middle of the Manistee National Forest. I used to run away there all the time - it was my refuge
2. Southern Ohio
3. Southeastern West Virginia.
4. England. There is so much I want to see, and one of my passions is the lives of the Medieval and Renaissance royalty. I want to see the places that I obsessively read so much about.
5. Anyplace quiet and peaceful - and preferably warm

FIVE THINGS I WOULD NEVER WEAR
1. Ponchos. I was old enough the first time they were in style, so I'm automatically disqualified
2. Low-rise jeans - I'm over 30, and that makes me too old to try to look like I'm 16
3. A bikini
4. Heels (of ANY height) with shorts
5. Belly shirts (see #2)

FIVE FAVORITE TV SHOWS
1. CSI (the original)
2. Andy Griffith
3. M*A*S*H
4. Without a Trace
5. Survivor

FIVE BIGGEST JOYS
1. My kids
2. My pets
3. Knitting
4. Spinning
5. Snow Days

FAVORITE TOYS
1. My computer / the internet (how else would I *meet* a knitting airedale owner from England?) :-)
2. My knitting and my yarn stash
3. My spinning wheel and fiber stash
4. My digital camera
5. My books

PEOPLE TO PASS THIS ON TO
Sabrina
Caryn
Terry
Tatjana
Amie

random Sunday stuff and needles

I've been working on a new sweater for KnitPicks. I'm supposed to make this sweater from Rowan Vintage Knitsout of their Twist yarn. I got gauge right off of the bat, so the yarn is not a problem...for the majority of the population. However, I belong to the relative minority of knitters who hate, detest, despise novelty yarn (have I mentioned that I can't stand it?) Twist, in my eyes, is a novelty yarn. This is the border:

Believe it or not, that's a seed stitch border. Stitch definition gets kinda lost with poofy, nubbly, ribbony yarn.

Oh, well. I'm almost done with the back. Luckily, I have until the middle of next month to finish it, so I can afford, time-wise, to put it down and work on my shawl. I'm actually fairly close to finishing it, but these will definitely help:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is a pair of 31" size 7 (4.5 mm) Holz & Stein ebony needles!! They came in the mail on Friday. If I save up my pennies and feed the kids peanut butter and jelly for a week, I may just be able to afford another pair. :-)

Aggravation

Over 30,000 people are believed dead in the eathquake in Asia, and Adelphia's lead news story? Ashlee Simpson sang *without incident* on Saturday Night Live last night.

Way to get those priorities straight, guys!

Like, Cool!

Which flock do you follow?

this quiz was made by alanna

Sanity? Sure...

This is my new computer wallpaper at work It's from this fantastic site - I could spend hours there looking around.

And the picture? It's the Danver State Insane Asylum. Believe me, it's incredibly fitting.

See you in the spring, guys

I went to the final Indians game today - what a heartbreaker. The loss was really a moot point anyway, since the Red Sox stomped the living crap out of the Yankees. For us to go on in the playoffs, we needed to win and Boston needed to lose so we could play Boston for the wildcard.

I *really* hated having to root for the Yankees. It goes against everything that's right in the world.

Now I don't know who to root for in the American League championships...Boston is nearly as bad as the Yankees, and I can't bring myself to root for a west coast team, either, so the Angels are out. I guess, for Sabrina's sake, I'll root for Chicago. :-)

The stadium actually ran out of peanuts after the 3rd inning! The entire stadium! That was either poor planning on the part of stadium management, or they really didn't think the Indians would get past today, either.

Season opener is April 3, 2006 in Chicago...it's going to be a long 6 months!

Puppy pictures

Gracie was 8 months old yesterday. A couple of months ago, they weren't sure she was even going to live, let alone be as active as she is today. :-) Only having one kidney hasn't seemed to affect her in the least! So, some puppy pictures.


Gracie is *not* randomly attacking this blanket on the couch...
because there was a dachsund under the blanket! Tick decided it was too early in the morning to play bitey-face, and promptly burrowed back under and went back to sleep.