Pretty pictures

By Kathleen

While Caroline heals her craft-inflicted wounds (what some people won't do for blog fodder!) I'd like to distract and soothe by presenting some more pleasing sites. (Unless you're more of a George Romero horror flick kinda person in which case you can go back and look at Caroline's photo again.)

Spring has sprung down in our holler in the Shenandoah Valley...

While downtown it's been Spring for a couple of weeks...

The valley is stunning at this time of year... the Bradford pears come first with their oval shapes of white, followed immediately by the pale pink cherry trees. Hot on their heels come the fuchsia colored redbuds and the dogwoods (both pink and white). And everywhere is the bright yellow of the forsythia, and the multi colored riot that are the tulips and daffodils. Soon we'll have wide white petaled magnolias and the yellow and orange lilies.



It's Spring on my office window too...

I found this mostly withered up plant in a pot to the side of the driveway at the last house we lived in. I nurtured it back to life, but it wasn't until last year that I saw a bloom group. One. This year... two simultaneously! And what's that around the back?... another bud!
I had to image search the Internet to identify it as I'd never seen anything like it before. This is a Hoya Carnosa. It's a tropical vining plant, also known as the Porcelain flower or wax plant. So cool!

And finally, it's Spring on my feets!...
Charlene Schurch's Baby Rib in Handmaiden Casbah, and
Cookie A's Monkey in Claudia Handpaint, Ocean Depths Because what says Spring better than hand knit wool socks?

OUCH!

by Caroline


I have fallen prey to blogging in my mind, lately. Kathleen is still waiting for vacation pix and I have become addicted to mini socks, thanks to a mini sock swap. But, since none of you have ESP, I suppose I had better get something typed up. There is a picture at the end of the post; you can decide for yourself if you want to look.



So, there I was, innocently knitting a mini sock. I was using a steel crochet hook to pick up the loops of the heel gusset (cue ominous music). For some reason, instead of putting the hook down when all the loops were on the needle, I held it in my fist. You know how you tap something against your thigh to slide it up higher in your grip? Well, it's not really a good idea with a fine point crochet hook. I felt it slide (surprisingly with no pain) into the pad at the base of my pinky and, without much thought, I tried to slide it out. But, it has a hook (D'OH)!



It would seem that the emergency room at the Elliot doesn't get too many crochet hook impalements. While waiting for it to be removed, I had a couple nurses coming in to look. "Cool," says one and I could hear a bit of their conversation back at the desk, "no,no, it has a hook on it!" Obviously, a crafter explaining why it can't just be pulled out. After Novocaine was administered, the hook was removed. I didn't watch but Debbie did and said it was done with a great deal of twisting.



A band-aid, a tetanus shot, and a series of one-liners later and it was time to go home. Yes, the medical people had fun with me: going down the check list, "no allergies, no medical problems besides being a danger to yourself....."; the clerk at the admin desk, even an hour later, referring to me as "crochet lady"; my own sister suggesting that maybe there should be some kind of dexterity test for knitters. So, here is the picture:

How odd is it to get tagged on your own blog?

The Rules: Post the rules on your blog. Link to the person who tagged you. Share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1... I play with my food. Always have and prolly always will. Have you ever had a Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookie? I eat the outside ridges first, then nibble all the cookie away from around the motif, then eat bits of the motif down to the final solid inner shape. Oreos? Screw off one side from two separate cookies. Eat the bare sides. Smush together the other two sides with cream for a make-it-yourself double stuff. Sure you could buy double stuff in the store... but where's the fun in that?

2... My feet are not ticklish. As a youngster my brother, next oldest sister and I would gang up on each other and tickle feet mercilessly. As a result mine are no longer susceptible to tickling. Let's not discuss my sides or armpits though... I said no! get away!!! AAAAAHHHHHHhahahahaha...

3... I love Nick for Kids morning shows. Cartoons for three year olds... just my speed. I'd watch some every day if I could. Except that...

4... I don't have TV. By choice. We don't get reception so we'd have to buy a satellite or cable package. But when you consider the bucket loads of crap that comes along with the minimal dollop of good stuff, and the mind suck that being drugged into watching all that crap is... cable isn't worth the money.

5... I'm a packrat. I could dress it up by calling it collecting... but it's still packratting. The bad news... I married a packrat. The bulk of our "collections" is mind numbing to contemplate. And yet... there's so much cool stuff too! I've set myself the task of sorting out the cool from the dregs bit by bit. It's hard, but I don't want to end up the old lady who gets smothered, not by her piles of decades old newspapers, but by the stacks of old cameras, and cat figurines, and antique books, and costume jewelry, and juice glasses, and textiles, and vintage hats and shoes, and on and on and on...
Clearly I must get rid of the cat figurines.

6... It took me until I was in my mid forties to get married for the first time, a year and a half ago. And we met... in a quilt museum. He had just moved to the area (his Mom quilted) and I just happened to be docenting that Saturday afternoon.
I'm so glad I was at the right place at the right time. And he was worth the wait. Totally.

Okay.
But I think I'm not going to tag another 6 people... One tag-out per blog seems to be sufficient. Thanks for doing the hard part Caroline!

Overdue

by Caroline


I've been spending so much time on Ravelry lately (I've been seeing that complaint a lot) that it is cutting into my knitting, never mind my blogging. I was tagged by Debbie of calicokitty6 back at the beginning of the month and I kept putting it off. These things look so easy till you have to fill one out. So finally, here it is.....


The Rules: Post the rules on your blog. Link to the person who tagged you. Share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


#1- I eat Chinese food for the soy sauce.

#2- My toolbox at work is so neat that people think I don't use my own tools.

#3- It is hard for me to walk into a group of people I don't know.

#4- I love the color brown and have been buying a lot of brown yarn lately.

#5- Sometimes I crochet till my hands cramp and even that doesn't always stop me.

#6- I struggle against a strong tendency to procrastinate.


Whew! Done, now I have to pick the next suckers....I mean, interesting people. I see Gina at Sleepy Eyes is also doing this meme and she has already tagged Ericka so here are my 6:


Kathleen @ Dips in the Road of Creativity (heh heh)
Lora @ Lora's Keyhole
Sarah @ Persnickety Sarah
Gigi @ Adventures in Crochet
Heather @ Yarnophiliac
Chris, who doesn't have his own blog but sometimes guests on his wife's blog, Armed With Pointy Sticks


I'm off to leave comments and apologies on the above blogs. Vacation post is coming, I'm still waiting for some pictures from my niece's camera.

Jumble

by Caroline


Public Service Announcement #1 - over at Armed With Pointy Sticks, Ericka is asking for a little help. She tells the story better but this is a woman who, when hit with her first MS episode (no sensation in her hands), taught herself to knit. She doesn't talk much about her continuing battle with this disease but right now she is getting ready to walk in the April 20th MS walkathon and is asking for donations, or if you are in the area, walkers. Check it out!


Public Service Announcement #2 - over at Yarnophiliac, Heather is also asking for a little help. Once again, her version is the better but she discovered an old high school crush on Oprah's Big Give. She learned that he had started a charity called Can-Do (Compassion in Action Network - a Direct Outcome organization). Using the colors of their website she has created the Can-Do colorway! $10 of every skein goes right to Can-Do. She has dyed it up in several different yarns and it is awesome! I have my skein, pictured below in superwash Merino and also, a picture of the yarn worked up in a sock. Check it out!









Rhode Island - I'm home from RI but I did get to meet up with Some Bunny's Love before I left. No time for a yarn crawl but I did get to visit her knitting guild meeting and after, we (somebunny and calicokitty6 and I) went to Panera to knit and talk. I forgot my camera, but somebunny had hers and you can find my picture there. I was supposed to take pictures with her camera that she would send me but I was so busy talking and knitting......well, that's why you have to go to her blog! Calicokitty6 is planning a yarn crawl in my area and she's supposed to call me. I was so eager to get home but I regret leaving such nice people.


Amanda Hat - I taught my friend Kathy the Amanda Hat pattern and found out that I wasn't quite finished with Amanda Hat mania. Here is #9! Lamb's Pride Bulky - Cafe Au Lait. I love this hat! My sister, Maureen, made the comment that she was surprised I wasn't in the double digits yet....mmmmmm.


Also Amanda related - Gina sent me an awesome prize for making the most Amanda Hats. I send her my thanks for a pattern that is like chicken soup, warm and comforting. Also (jeez, didn't think to get pictures) I happily let her her and blogless Amanda (for whom the pattern is named) pick out their faves. Gina picked the Manos and Amanda, the Sheep Shop Yarn Company. You should check out her gallery of Amanda Hats, and if you haven't made one already, I strongly recommend it.



















My Nephew - I am so pround of him and yes, I think he might be channeling a little Elvis in this picture.


Fellowship Craft Night - we had our first craft night at church this month and plan to make it a monthly event. We had lots of beaders, a couple knitters, a few scrappers and a hooker and a wood-worker. It's funny, how sometimes we are more productive in a group.

swaps swappingly swapped

I didn't want to post anything until I knew my swap recipient had her package as I was late because of this respiratory bug I got. (I'm much better now, though I still have some coughing and ick. But I no longer sound like Minnie Mouse.)


This was the Scavenger Hunt Swap and the idea was that we had seven categories; Something... Hard, Round, Local, Funny, Green, having to do with the letter "T", and a spoiler's choice.

Lot's of fun options there!

My swap sending partner was Lesley from Nova Scotia. I loved her swap box! And it came at a much needed time in the midst of getting the flu bug and feeling awful.
This is a link to the post I posted about it on the swap blog. And here's another photo of the stitch markers.

Seriously I was laughing so hard and with the no voice and raspy cough I must have sounded like I was dying. No wonder DH came into the room asking "What's wrong?"
I can't wait until I have some breathing time (after next week's opening) and I want to start that sock pattern. Whoohoo! Thanks so much Lesley!!!

Because I was feeling so bad and so out of it I was late sending my box off to my swap recipient partner, Diane in Alaska. And I totally forgot to take photos of my own before getting it off finally. But here's her slide show post.
I had a lot of fun putting it together. And I've still got some chicken knitting fabric to make some bags for myself!

All in all I had a great time doing this swap and I'd love to do one again. This was my first one and I learned some valuable lessons. Like... Don't figure you've got time to get it in the package. It takes longer than you would think to get it all labeled and packed and something (like a mind numbing virus) can always happen at the last minute.
Of course that's what I tell myself about everything in my life... but do I listen?
Or do I instead live by the quote (paraphrase) from Pogo " Nothin's so urgent today, that won't be urgenter tomorrow"?

You can answer that later.

ETA:
I can't decide if I'm more embarrassed or excited. I finally sat down to leaf through the Mingus sock pattern that Lesley sent only to discover... the Marilinda Sock pattern too!!!
Lesley... wowwowwowee!!! Thank you so much! I'm so sorry I didn't catch it at first... and it's so cool!

But now the problem... which do I do first? Oh the dilemma!

Is it safe yet...?

Well, my brain grew back, took one look at the projects and deadlines coming up and promptly, and most conveeeeeniently, got sick.

A few light brushes with a stomach bug flu that's turned into a sort of bronchial thing.

I'm not seriously complaining. I've still managed to go in to work each day (yay. not.) and sort of function. I know plenty of people here who've been out for days with these bugs (respiratory and stomach). Hey... in fact... it's probably their fault I'm sick now!

I do think that one thing that might really cheer me up would be to see fabulous vacation photos posted here by my sis, Caroline. Hey C! Where's the cruise shots?!

In leiu of that I offer some WIPs.

Some knitting...
a mixed weight scarf of laceweight and boucle...

The Ida vest by Vivian Hoxbro...
And some sewing...

A lace overlay skirt with several different color linings...

An Issey Miyake skirt and top (rather tame for Issey really)...
Several tops with assorted necklines and sleeve lengths in some lovely rayon lycra knits...