Here we go again!

It could not possibly be 6 years since I've posted. I'm sure I missed tons of activity with all my cyber friends as much as I've missed talking with all of you. Sure feels good to be back.

Knit-and-Run Goes Numb

A more fitting name, a more functional blog, I done went NUMB. All is pretty much he same, a touch of spring cleaning and the ability to change things up a bit more quickly. Isn't that what we all like? The name is suits me well too, I'm slowly losing my touch, not what I used to be, blah, blah and blah.

I spent time gathering some old projects made long before blogging existed at my desk and wishing all the long gone gifts had been photographed. I'm still keeping ye olde Knit-and-Run, I'm a sentiMENTAL fool that way. I hope you'll still visit me.

My FLA - Week 5

I know, no weeks 1 thru 4. This is the first fifth week of a series so cleverly thought of by Hillary. She's shoutin out for DC. I'll begin with a vacation we took in 06 and didn't blog about it because, well this is a knit blog and all. hahahahahaha That year, we splurged and instead of driving the 200-something miles, we flew. We also stayed inside the resort at Portofino Bay Hotel. Also payed extra for express tickets that gets you right on the rides and exhibits, no lines, no waiting. Totally. Worth. It. Did I mention it was July? Florida in July is HOT. Good thing I wasn't um, changing then. I took my very first sock in progress on the plane. The sock is no longer with us.

We got in at night so we would be well rested when we hit the park in the morning. The hotel has an entire town with family dining and an Italian restaurant that was just like eating at grandma's in Italy. It cost about as much to go to grandma's in Italy. I also enjoyed myself in the hotel's bathroom that had cool leuver windows above the tub. I scared the crap out of the old man with those! OK, I'm 12, but I'm snickering right now just thinking of it.

Portofino Bay at night

Looking the other way is the bay where I spent time in the morning feeding all the ducks that came in for breakfast. I couldn't get decent photos of them, but I remember cracking up because one duck would be out on a little wooden boat (there for decor only), and that duck sounded like he was laughing. They didn't come around at night though.

First thing in the morning, our water taxi came to get us and wisked us off to playland.

As you can see, the offspring was completely thrilled.



Hello Universal!




Some highlights:

The Mummy: Highly recommended.



The Incredible Hulk, ah no. Not me. We hung out while the girls went on it. Three times. This looks much smaller here than it really is.



This is what we saw while we waited. Did I mention it was hot?



Oh wise old mountain man, when the hell are these kids gonna get tired of this ride?
Hot hot hot hot hot

I bought stuff while I waited. hot hot hot hot


Don't I wish....

Reminds me of the old SNL. You're that land shark! I'm 12

No Universal trip is complete without stopping by SpongeBob's pineapple house.



When you can't be home...



They're not kidding, they're everywhere.

How do you measure the success of a vacation?



When you wind up with a steaming pile of kid at the end of the day.

B is for...

Baby Bibs O' Love ala Mason-Dixon . These were made with one skein of Sugar and Cream self striping I found at A.C. Moore while on a yarn raid with The Betties. We seem to be managing get togethers more often than just knit nights, and Blogfree Debbie always apologizes in advance where ever we go.

Many Bib's O' Love have come out our group, especially from Mimi who seems to be addicted. Intervention? Nahhh

For A Good Time, Click...A Public Service Announcement

JenLa's blog (Knottygirls dot com/JenLa/blog) is experiencing server issues. If like me, you've tried linking there, and got the web page with the blonde hottie, you know it's not not fixed yet. I sure would hate to be in their web host's shoes for the next few weeksdays. Jen, I tried to comment last night, but that chick wants me bad.

So until JenLa is up and running again, you may admire their button here.



Talk about Friday Fuck Up

A Contest!

Go!

A

It sure is nice of Vicki to get an ABC Along going for the year. It's not too late to get in on the Action, hurry on in, After January 19th, you're a spectator.


A is for ABC Along, Award, Anime, Agony

I was Awarded by JenLa in their 4th Annual Knit Blog Awards! I received the Hawkeye Award which for anyone that knows me is most fitting. If you had told me three years Ago I would have received this honor, I would have said well dammit I'll try!

The 2nd Annual Anime convention is now going on at our public library and if madame Kate does not wake up soon, she will miss it. It would have a little more exciting if she entered their drawing contest, but a certain mother of hers saw it too late to get in. Which brings to the Agony that is my new job. One word to The Man, (lawsuit) if you don't cut out the shit you're pulling and furthermore, good luck cause you're going to be training a new person every three months asshole. You're very smart and know your job, but you lack the common sense and time management skills God gave a bedbug.

Cripes, is it B yet?

What's in the Box?

It's all about the food over at Mason-Dixonland, and it makes me realize how self brought up I've been. My mom cooked without recipes and she was a good cook, she's also been gone for 7 years, so to open up her box and show her recipes would be fairly morbid at this point.

Left to right is The Campbell Soup Box gifted by sil's ex-mil about 20 years ago. My own recipes and those of my mil reside in there, as well as, 250 ways to spruce up yer food with soup. Good stuff.

The Toy Shoppe box was bought by me years ago when I decided to start the Christmas cookie tradition. It has all my recipes for cookies I like and maybe a few dozen dessert recipes made their way in there too. Never met a grain of sugar I didn't like.

The one with the apples on it was given to me by my other sil, it was her mother's. There were only a few of her recipes in there, but not the ones she was famous for. Damn.
My fave and most often made recipe besides spaghetti sauce, is my dear friend Diana's cheesecake recipe. This baby comes out almost 3 inches high and is light as a feather. Not that I've ever tasted one, except for that time I ate that wing that had a small feather still attached...
Diana gave me this off the top of her head saying she'd made it so often, she knew it by heart. And now, so do I.

Diana's Cheesecake

Greese a 12" Springform Pan and line with crust:

1 Cup graham cracker crumbs
3 Tblsp. melted butter
2 Tblsp. sugar

Combine an line pan wrap bottom in foil so the foil comes up the sides of the pan near the top.


Batter:

4 Packages 8 oz. each Cream Cheese
1 Cup sugar
3 Tblsp vanilla
3 Tblsp flour
5 egg yolks (put the whites aside in a mixing bowl)
1 Cup sour cream


Beat all ingredients except sour cream til smooth, add sour cream mix thoroughly.


In egg white bowl, add 3 Tblsp sugar and 2 shakes cream of tartar and beat til stiff peaks form. Fold into batter by hand and dump into crust.


Place in a large baking pan with about 1 inch boiling water added and bake for 1 hour in 350º oven.

Turn off oven, open door and leave in oven for another hour.


Chill, pig out! Any questions, please feel free to email me. A big thank you to Carole for letting me know that tomorrow's the deadline although this is not the stuff winning posts are made of.


This always takes me back to the days when I was a brand new banker and very young. We were a good team and about 6 of us still keep in touch. Much has happened good and bad, but I always think of Diana when I make this cake.

So there it is, nothing of grandma's, no aunt's pictures, no sisters at all. Most girls have things like laces and china handed down from their mother's or grandmother's trunks. What did I inherit from mine?

And a

The 4 Stages of Pi

Pattern here.

Happy Holidays

The best gift of all is friendship. A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I Felt Thirsty

1. House a wreck, check

2. Dryer fixed? check. Thanks dryer, it's holiday time ya know

3. Presents wrapped? nah

3. Lots of knitting? uh uh

4. Cards sent? yep

5. Paid city ungodly amount of cash for water hookup? it's holiday time fools

6. Working overtime? yeah

7. Cookie dough made? of course

8. Forget anything? probably

9. Have a great time with your friends at the holiday party? oh yeah baby.

9. Lost mind, hm check


Happy holidays everyone! I would post more pictures of FOs, but I didn't take them yet. Much to my amazement, I finished something and pretty fast even for me. The Felted Kitty Bed by Wendy was really fun to knit. Check out her Gallery for the pattern.

I used 2 strands of worsted wool held together. 1) The colors match the cat 2) didn't have bulky wool in the house (this is FL) 3) I had to start it right there and then.
After knitting:

While drying: (after washing it 4 effing times and it still needs one more washing




It really is fun to watch this go from a seemingly unshapely thing into a little bit of kitty heaven.

Even the girls crafted with me. They felt like clay that day. A rare treat indeed to hang with them.

Next shot will after Christmas with the cat in it. I'm trying to keep it a secret. He'll ignore it just to mess with me. Because waking me up a 5:30 AM on the freakin weekend and eating the tree and puking it up in MY spaces isn't enough. He must still be mad from our conversation last Sunday.

B-Whatcha making?

Me-A burial bag for the cat.

B-Oh that's nice, you're so mean.

Me-I have enough yarn for one for you too honey.

B-At least I'll go warm

In the meantime, Linus becomes quite ill looking with an obvious cold. Oh shit.

Long and not funny enough to post about story short, he got over it in a day. Guess he wants that bed.

And this is how he repays me.




Lifted from the counter while we were out of the kitchen. He once did that with a roast beef and got the dog in trouble for it. The thief of meats.


Let it not be said, I never drink and knit.



Thanks blogless Debbie, for taking such an artsy picture! I does not look like worms in my cider, but I sure could go for one now. And thank you Meg, for making my Christmas extra special in the form of a handknit gift :)

Nice Beth! Hope to see you Monday!

Carol,

Who just sat down after getting the holiday lights on the house (this is something I do) Brian and I don't play well together in the holiday light game. The tree is up and lighted, the poor angel, well, she's on the tree let's say. The cat promptly curled up under the tree as soon as the skirt was laid. I did one load of laundry (with the broken dryer which only removes the wrinkles, doesn't heat or dry at all. I was starving and enjoyed my favorite pizza and wings; had a great cup of coffee.

Soon, a hot shower another cup of coffee, a few small crochet projects I've been working on to relax and stop shaking from crawling around on the roof in the hot sun like a fool.

After staying up late last night playing with the blog and decided at 11:00 that this was no time to be playing with the blog. I like the new features, but I happen to like HTML
The sweet smell of rest to come. Time to seal the boxes, stamp the cards and start wrapping. Cookie dough thoughts are baking in
my brain. This started as a response to an email from my girlfriends
to say thanks to Beth for something really nice she did for the community. Aren’t yas glad you all didn’t get this as an email?

You’re welcome.

Because everyone else is:



Now that the pressure's off, I'll be blabbing all the time.
Phew! That felt good. And I just love birdies.

Your Brain is Orange

Of all the brain types, yours is the quickest. You are usually thinking a mile a minute, and you could be thinking about anything at all. Your thoughts are often scattered and random - but they're also a lot of fun! You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about esoteric subjects, the meaning of life, and pop culture.

What Color Is Your Brain?

Found this at Kim’s. I just had to see what color mine is, it's expensive to have a brain surgeon do it for me and my insurance doesn't cover this sort of thing. Think in color and without obligation!

Need I Say More?

Of course I do.



Thank you Nancy! It was a fun contest, and for a great cause, you're a good one.





Thank you Michelle! If you don't stop spoiling me, you may have to adopt me. Really.

Pattern here

Mods: I used US size 13s for the body and US 5s for the bottom and strap. A quick knit with 2 balls of cotton.

Loopy Ewe

A Piece of Vermont

Bridget tagged me for a meme: I am to open the book I am reading, turn to page 161, and read the fifth sentence. After I share it with you, I am to tag five other bloggers. Like I told Bridget, don't expect Shakes Beer from me. Here goes: We keep a supply right there in that little cedar box.

The fact that I'm reading anything surprises me. If you would like to share your 5th sentence of page 161, please do, I would love to see.

Happy holiday shopping! I'm done.

Spread the Love not the Germs

Think I caught it here. Can't be sure. You've been warned.

AWW The Contest Edition

JenLa is having a contest for AWW, which is Dave’s brainchild. I wonder if he thought that not only would we love looking at his asses, but would happily throw in our two buns worth. The word brainchild makes me gigglesnort, I'm 12.

Part of JenLa's contest is to post on any Wednesday of October and display the button:



Check. Next, display a pic that would make them laugh. OK,



So concludes my contribution to AWW contest edition. Did I mention I'm 12? Yeah, Marin, me too.

I also start my new job today, so I don't know how Internet or blogging friendly they're going to be. Probably best to listen, take notes and be otherwise generally professional. Who am I kidding? I got lucky getting this and I intend to give it my all. Doing good at work means better fiber perks in the long run. Win-Win

Since it's Halloween, I wish you all a happy and safe one and leave you with some Zombie fun.


I so forgot where I found this!

It Is Time...

You know you've been home a long time if:

1. The house is clean

2. There is plenty of food

3. There is a respectable FO pile

4. You're up to date on Dr. Phil

5. You start to make new friends





If you crochet and want a quick gift for your fiber friends, this little one can be done in minutes and uses teeny amounts of yarn. I added a "handle" to mine to attach it to my knitting bag because I save the snippings and use them for stuffed objects.
You will find the pattern here.

Excerpted from an email to friends:

Well it was bound to happen. I accidentally went to Knit Picks and slipped over the keyboard and ordered the Harmony Options set. I just didn't see it coming, it all happened so fast. Even the cable needle set seemed to magically appear on an order confirmation. Just didn't see it coming. It could have been someone else, I guess it was just my time.

Get a Yob

Bum no more! Through a former job contact, I am now the proud owner of a brand new job doing what I like and what I'm good at. Just doesn't get any better. Now I can have my nerves reset to the relax mode. And since I had a contest mentioned on this post, I can announce the winner! The official count was 53 days. Ashley guessed within 4 days! I wished I would have listened to you Ashley, I could have had a grand time while home. Well Ashley, I'll be sending the yarn you've chosen and the awesome stitch markers made by the fabulous and talented Torii! I just have to take another photo because for some reason, they don't want to appear.

Torii must have worked some magic on those babies. Oh, speaking of babies, the stealth projects are no longer under the radar. Right before the Clapotis, there was this:

Beth’s Little Star Afghan Crocheted with Caron Simply soft and an H hook. Mom's name is Beth and I like crochet that's unusual. No thinking about this one. I loved working on it and it was a fast project.

Also for baby Z, mom wanted these: Diaper soaker before felting

The pattern: Day-to-Night Felted Soaker and I know I have a felted pic somewhere. I'll just pop it into the next post.

Knit with Lion wool 1 skein each black and denim blue then machine felted. It will be held closed with Velcro until baby Z figures out the joy of pulling off his clothes. heh, heh

For mom,


Hello Kitty Cloth from Peaches n Creme and of course a matching cloth for baby.

While I was working cloths, I finished a few for Rabbitch who is distributing them to those in need.

Pattern here.

So the mad scramble begins before I'm back to work. I sure am going to miss home cooked lunches and naps right after.

I Lost One Pound in One Week!

I've been away far too long and being unemployed, you'd think I'd post more. I've had 2 heart attack inducing events to deal with one of which I will dedicate an informational post to and soon and that's only because it will serve as a public service. Let's just say for now, it has to be worded ever so delicately to protect me if you will. It's partly why I haven't been visiting you guys and contributing my usual 2 cents worth.

Now for the weight loss. I'm not on a diet and one lost pound is nothing to cheer about, except if it's in yarn weight. The reason I didn't have a heart attack or lose my mind completely is because I had a project to protect me from the big bad world. And I knit Clapotis in one week people! This is the first truly wearable thing I knit for myself that I will actually wear. The reason I knit it in black? Because I will actually wear it. I joined the Second wave movement expecting to maybe finish it some time in this life, and events that tore a rift in my soul happened seemed to have accelerated the need to commit suicide/go on a 4 state killing spree/assume a new identity/crawl into a hole and die knit.

So without further bullshit ado, here she is...








Does this make my ass look big?

Specs: Clapotis from Fall 2004 issue of Knitty

Started Sept 20 PM Finished Sept 28th AM

Yarn: Lambs Pride Worsted wool/cotton blend in M05 Onyx Black 1 lb. cone

Needles: Knit Picks Options US size 8 on 24" cables used as straights

Mods: Are you kidding? Me modify Kate Gilbert's design? I had 6 false starts to begin with!

I had an epiphany, I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I believe my knitting is at a crossroads. I'm taking the road that leads me to knitting things I will actually wear.