One for Me, One for You

Stealth knitting is almost done and will be posted after next week! Yay!

The contest for employment is still on and I thought it only fair to give it a post of its own. The contest will end on THE day I receive an offer for employment that I say yes to.

If you already guessed in this post, you can leave it as it is, or change your mind. Please leave your guess in this post or this one as I am of little brain and it easily scatters. In the event of a tie (or duplicate answers), there will be a random number pick.

Rules: The ticker in my banner is counting days since unemployment.
Please give me a number you think will be displayed on the day I receive a job offer. That's it.

Two prizes are up for grabs!

You get one of these from Dave Daniels Cabin Cove, I get the other to celebrate working again. These are Dave's hand dyed sock yarns, 100% Merino wool, fingering weight at 425 yards each. One is enough for a pair of socks. You get to choose which one you want.


The other prize was made by my friend Torii, who by the way, is a jewelry maker. The colors reflect a fall theme, and since I scored a nice set of these for my birthday, I can tell you they are niiiice! Thank you Torii!
I lifted this photo from Torii's blog and hope she continues to make these!

There you have it! Pick a number any number, and good luck!

No Candy Friday

AssWatch Wednesday the First

I don't have a WTF Wednesday or a Walk with me Wednesday post, so I give you my first AssWatch Wednesday.



Before I ever heard of AssWatch Wednesday, I got this shot cause this is what silly girls do. Wait til they're grown, let's see if they if they WANT their butts to look larger than they are.


You wouldn't know it to look at it, but here there is some serious weed pulling going on. This may be the very thing that winds me up in divorce court. Or, it could make for a great Halloween costume. Repair man at your service.



Now the dog gets dignified. She doesn't want to appear as a trashy bitch so she turned her back on me. Right Dolly, I know how you keep that clean, don't pull that dignified crap on me.



Linus enjoying himself with his and not ashamed of bathing in public.

Daniel, this was fun! I'll work on getting more sophisticated rearage in the future. The second one in your post reminds me of someone I used to work with! Who says we don't look?!


This comes directly from the family, no exciting buttage going on here and I would certainly be on Mr KAR's shit list if he ever sees this. Inspired by Dave, I think this is rather fun. One Wednesday Dave, I'll post some true Florida style asswatching pics worthy of the southern region, that is, if I ever develop a real life and get out there.

Sunrise, Sunset

This is what I saw from my back yard this morning and had to share it with you.



A sunrise is beautiful thing. It brings with it the promise of the day to come. I realized a moment later that this was the 17th anniversary of my father's death. He left us suddenly, without warning or goodbyes. To the southwest, I saw this sky:




Dad: March 17, 1952

The stormy sky made me realize how beautiful and expected things can be and how suddenly they can change without warning. It's been a partly dreary day ever since. I seemed to have glanced at the best part of the sky today and I'm grateful.

My mother, also no longer here, left me this bloom on her orchid this week.



Although my parents were divorced for years before they left this earth, I don't believe they'd begrudge me a collaborative effort by them to bring me a little pleasure for a few moments. This is how I remember my dad.


December 25, 1989

Cherish the sunshine, the laughter and even the rain. Things can turn stormy at any moment.

"Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises." -Elizabeth Zimmerman

Buy Candy Friday

Yes I bought candy, but not the chocolate kind! Yes, there's been knitting and crocheting, but not all of which I can post yet.

This cloth has contestual value, so please read. Did you ever look up a word you were making up just to make sure it isn't really a word?

Here's my entry for the contest going on at Anne’s I'm lifting the rules right from her site because it is her contest. The rules:

1. Knit the dishcloth pattern (on her site)
2. Post a picture on your blog, and list whether you used straights or circular needles, and the style of knitting that you used to knit the cloth (If you aren’t sure, knittinghelp.com has some great videos that would show you), and if you knit combined method
3. Link to this post in your post
4. Leave a comment here with a link to your blog post with the photo
5. Viola! 4 steps, 4 entries.
6. You earn a bonus 5th entry by leaving a suggestion as to what to name the pattern in your comment.

I was alerted to this contest by Amanda. Thanks Knitting Mama!

Here's my humble submission and I named it East Meets West.

Specs: Anne's pattern made with 1 skein of Peaches n Cream (threw the band away) and size 7 straight wooden needles knit in continental style. This was fun and because I love a contest, I'm donating to Rabbitch who is collecting cloths for a good cause. You still have time to enter in hers too. I feel like I got a double deal on this one, 2 chances to win. I'm contest ho hear me compete.

I was given some really nice gifts for my birthday from Michelle. Girl, you spoil me!





I swear this bear is related to Spike, tho I haven't seen him sporting slippers and a robe lately. I call her Shelly cause I'm so damned clever. It's known I take less than stellar photos, but I captured the little fairy charm pretty good. For me.
Thank you thank you thank you Michelle!

I was also gifted at our local pub by Torii who is making incredible stitch marker sets. Torii, I'm already using these and they rock! All the joins in the rings are hermetically sealed so your not going to have these babies snagging your knits. Torii, I love these and because you made them, they are treasures. Thank you!!







Oh yeah, contests right?!


There's still time to enter Norma's contest by knitting a scarf or donating!
Here's one that just needs blocking and possibly some fringe. The other one is almost halfway done.

It's been fun being home this week. I got the house in order (pretty much) and have cooked and baked to my heart's and the family's content. I ran errands, got rid of stuff (a lot of stuff) and saved us $3,800 in home owner's insurance. Yeah, that was fun. It was set to go up $4,300 instead, it went up $500. Not too bad I must say.
Thank gawd it didn't go up $4,300 cause I would have shot myself right in front of the insurance agent! Instead, I recruited her into my knitting group! Ha! We always find each other don't we?!

It's so nice being home, I get to ponder things I would long have forgotten at the end of a work day. Like, if you put a ticker on your blog and it counts down or up to THE date, what happens after day 0? Now I know. It's counting days since instead of to. So, enter another contest! Yep, it's been 7 days since unemployment for me and no solid prospects in sight. I will must go back to work, so here's the contest: Guess how many days since unemployment the ticker displays on the day I have accepted an offer for employment. That's it. You can leave it in the comments on this post, or email me with your guess. The prize? Something socky from here



I bought 2, one for me and one for you! You'll get to choose the color you like best, the other is mine. I did say I bought stuff, and I know I have money left, cause there's still checks in the checkbook. Happy weekend!

Knitting Under the Inflewantz

It's been a strange week, but aren't some of them? Employee Appreciation Day was Thursday. We had a great time. There was an after party. Friday was hard in a couple of ways. 5 Days, and I'm on vacation. I would normally insert a big Woo Hoo here, but it's the going back to work after the vacation that escapes me. I don't know when or where that is. I hate being new, I'll live through it, but I don't like it.

Is there knitting here anymore? You bet. It's been the rock of my Gibraltar, the cream in my coffee and the fiber in my diet. Most of it is still sort of stealthy, but 3 or 4 weeks and I'll bomb you with photos. I feel a little wonky with blogging and it's hard to focus, just too much life at once sometimes makes me just. Stop.

Watch me light up when I'm home on a really rainy day in September at 10 am though! You're likely to hear that Woo Hoo then.

Here's some knitting related stuff so you won't think I'm trying to cop some free therapy from a group of smart and compassionate people.

The old birthday is almost upon me and I was given the go ahead to order this:

Heh, like I need permission. Three words about this book: Worth every penny. K?
Cat Bordhi outdid herself. Linus saw the word Cat, and thought it was for him.

Here's a knitting bag I won over at Erin's and it's my favorite! She made this awesome bag and let me tell you, it's like store bought! She has incredible sewing skills; Erin, I believe I told you 3 times already how much I love this bag!






Stalled for a new project? Go see Michelle’s blog for a KAL she's putting together for a gorgeous sweater that will challenge you to pieces, but leave you with a great addition to your wardrobe. Michelle, I think this was just another plot to get a post out of me.

Like to donate? Then The Red Scarf Project 08 is for you, no time to make a scarf? You can click to donate, that easy.



This one is crocheted, I called it Gwen's Red Scarf in Crochet. A knitted scarf that Gwen made for Norma was "sort of" emulated in crochet. Almost done, but crocheting in afghan stitch curls like knitting, so I'll have to block the daylights out of this. My own pattern, so I saved you a link.

Or how about something a little smaller to knit? Rabbitch has your project right here. You'll have to ask her in the comments for the info, I happen to have her box # cause I "knat" hats for her last year. She coined that phrase and I thought it only proper to use it in reference to her. I've wanted to for ages!



This one is by Knits by Rachel and I'm using the same shade of pink worsted cotton. My photo sucks ass, Rachel's is much better. It's very girlie.

And if I could have only one thing for my birthday next week, I want one of these.

I have the feeling I'm forgetting something, maybe it was the wine?

Pink, Blue, White, Green and Red

Warning: Language and ranting ahead.

It was a perfectly planned day. Take a half off from work, get kids, take Kate to her hair stylist, run into Michael's right around the corner, grab a sandwich next door, get to the school and pick up Meg's schedule. Got it.
sccccraatchhhhhhhh

I had a granola bar at 11 am, left work at 1 got home and picked up kids. Kate's hair winds up taking 2 hrs and about $80 more than planned, OK, that's not too bad but it's too late to grab a sandwich so off to school we go. WE go in and go to out table. In lieu of Meg's pink class schedule they hand me a white form and a green card and direct us to the cafeteria in which they say Meg has to have her shots to into the 7th grade. OK....

The cafe is packed with about 200 people and many many many screaming running and overly sugared toddlers who are not happy to be there. We are #97, they are calling #36 and it's now 5.

I call dad and ask him to get Kate as we're "going to be here for a while". The asst principal ushers in a woman with 5 children right into the shot line, the woman behind me goes ballistic and rightfully so. This yields nothing. Didn't expect it to.

Hallay effin luya at 6:45 they call us and we get in the shot line only 3 ahead of us and moving fast. Our turn! I can almost smell the coffee and feel the luxury that is my chair at home.

The nurse takes my white form and green card and asks, "What kind of insurance? Medicare? FL Kid Care? Medicaid?" I say, "Private insurance" and here's where the whole fucking day went to hell....

She asks me in a loud voice "Do you have any sense of conscience? Do you know you're stealing a shot from a needy child?........My mouth dropped, my eyebrows raised, and I said "heh?" Then I sneered and asked her who the HELL did she think she was speaking to? Those shots were donated by the drug company, 13% of my property taxes paid for these programs which by the way, I've never used, and that she was being paid $40 an hour to be there, like she's doing the community a favor or something. She then raised the forms high in the air and tore them in two and tossed them on the floor. That's when I screamed at her "Shove your shot up your ass, you miserable cunt!" and stomped out of there back to the gymnasium to report to the school. Shotless, no less.

Poor Meg is walking beside me as if she just saw the principal naked and said nothing. Back in gym, there are 5 school counselors left, and everything is packed away. I beseechingly said "Will. Somebody. Please. Talk. To. Me? Please?
A kindly faced woman gently waved us over and I Calmly, yes calmly explained what just happened when she extended her hand to Meg and said "Welcome to the 7th grade Megan, I'm Ms. Soandso and I'm your administrator this year while handing Meg her pink schedule with her other hand. I thanked her and promised to bring the blue form required on Monday ans she assured it was OK. See, they know us well, this is Meg's 2nd year here and Kate already passed through the school.

Meg got her shots from our Dr and is now in compliance. I sure feel sorry for people who don't believe in shots.

And for the record, I have always respected the medical profession, for in lieu of a life, they make good money but have no weekends, no holidays just schedules. Blocks of time they must work. Both my SILs are nurses, 2 cousins are doctors so I know hoe these things work.

I do realize, I started all this but forgetting to have Meg's shots updated, but it's not like we're unhealthy people living in the Everglades or something. But this woman had no right to talk to me like that, call me stupid, lazy, forgetful what ever; just please don't publicly attack my integrity (or back me into a corner in any way) and I'll be sweet as sunshine.

I spent an hour on the phone with the hospital administrator and may even file a complaint with the state licensure board. I will be hearing back from the hospital soon. I can't imaging how this bitch would handle a floor full of sick patients if this is how she represents here hospital in public. At least I lit her up Philly style! I would have hated myself if I didn't.

Poor Meg, as we walked to the car I asked her if she was totally mortified and she responded with "Mom, I can't believe she said that to you". Thank Jeebus she didn't hear the cursing. And now that it's posted, it's ova!

The upside to all this? I finished 2 washcloths while we were there.
Oh, is a knit blog? Sure there's knitting, just not postworth and slightly in stealth mode, but soon to emerge.

I Am Daisy

I am a Daisy What Flower Are You?

"You are just a sweet person. When a friend needs a shoulder to cry on, you are happy to offer yours with a box of tissues as well. Once in awhile, you wish you could be a little more dramatic but then sensibility sets back in and you know that you are perfect the way you are."

I said daisy not dizzy. The Coffee Spaz was sporting a sun flower, so of course, I had to find out what kind of flower I am too. There is much fiber and ink running through my fingers, I may very well in fact, be dizzy. Happy weekend!

My Dream Job

This is where I want to work. In the meantime, I'm practicing at home.

My Candy Friday

I have tons to post about, so I'll get right to it. The ticker counting down to unemployment is showing a small number. I can not believe I'll be a lady of full time slave labor in the house leisure in a mere 28 days. I've been busy interviewing like a mad woman so everything will be in place, cause hey? Why should I spend all my soon to be free time looking for work? I say farewell mortgage industry, I'm going to stable pastures. No pun intended. Now, on to really important things!

The Luck O' the Irish has been smilin on Carol lately. We be takin' yer job lady, and ternin' ye streets into rubble so ye can driiive a boompy miiile out o yer way to git hooome it nyte. So they let me win a few contests! Now The Betties have been giving me a little shit cause I haven't been spreading the contest info wealth around, so I promise next time to share. Hey, I was just increasing my chances, what can I say?

On the winning deck, I scored really nicely, I must say. First, Erin had a contest for her String it Along along, still a good place for "green" inspiration. And she sent me this:


That's 2 skeins of Koigu in dye lot # 232649 which translates into a really nice denim blue for me. Thank you Erin, bet you thought I forgot by now. I'm planning socks for me with these, something for my favorite outfits. Jeans!

Next up, came just today when I dragged my ass home early feeling a wee bit sorry I'll be out of work, and find this waiting for me:

Is that a poltergiest on my table? I wouldn't be surprised. Or scared, so if you are, don't give me any shit, hear?


These lovelies are from Hillary for guessing how many trips to the store before vacation. She did very well by the way, an organized woman. These are Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Color 56 Mt Creek.
Oh how I love the way this feels! Just like butta! Hard to believe there's any wool in these babies at all! Now I'm certain I need to order this in cammo color (which is hard to grab) for kid 2. But after my socks are made with these.

On another note, seems Michelle is a bit miffed that I haven't posted lately. Girl are you sorry yet? I'm not half done! Where would I be without you? Postless.
I can't think of a bridging theme to go into the next paragraph, so I'll just ramble from here.
Earlier, I posted about a friend having a baby on July 25th and when you're a Betty and one of you has one of these:


you do alot of this:



Baby blanket, baby bolero, baby washcloth, baby booties, baby hat. I'll post in more detail as the projects become postworthy.

Speaking of knitting and sock yarn, I finally made these!





Be still my heart. According to Debi, I broke my sock cherry ~snort~ Now the rest should be easier no?
Specs: Lacy Summer Socks from Knitting Lingerie Style
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare fingering weight hand dyed by me, guess I broke my dye cherry too. Worked with US size 3 Bamboo dpns

I stuck right to the pattern because it was my 1st pair and I don't really know how I knit socks yet, well, now I do. I could have made these easily with 2s but they're socks anyway! The blockers were made by Leggy Creations. These are her Day n Night Blockers.



Not only knitting any more, but a wee bit of designing too.



These are being worked up for the Red Scarf Project. Some crochet patterns are needed for folks to access, so I'm trying my best to help out. One of the patterns is an attempt to emulate a knit stitch. Not exact, but the process helps me think of better things than I would if not having this to do. It's a fun challenge!

Not so challenging but fun was the dishcloth for July:

I know most of my photos bite, but this had a nice lacy pattern with a shamrock in the middle. I like this alot. Next post Michelle, is where I discuss Ravelry, and facing my stash, and oh boy, am I in trouble.

A Message for Norma

Everyone knows that Norma is the national spokeswoman for the Red Scarf Project.

It's time to gear up for the 2008 action! You can get the details by going to Norma's Red Scarf Project 07 site. If this doesn't make you a little teary then baby, you's cold! There's more info on Red Scarf at the Orphan Foundation of America's site also. Even if you can't participate, please give it a shout out, maybe a few of your readers will!

I promised I'd try to somehow translate Gwen's Red Scarf Pattern in crochet, believe or not, not everyone knits. Yeah I know...So not as easy as it looks, but I did come up with a tunisian/afghan stitched pattern that's a tad close. If any one is interested, I am writing the stitch patterns up. Norma, anyone still asking about crochet? Or are they finding their patterns?






Tunisian view 1


Tunisian view 2



I figure if Norma can devote endless hours to this project, the least I could do was devote a post to it. More to come...

Sigh Candy Friday...

It's A Boy!!!

When a friend in your knitting circle has her baby three weeks "early" there's only one thing to post about. Congratulations!!!!

Excerpt from email today:

The baby was born on July 25, 2007 at 4:24 pm. He is 6 pounds and 17 3/4 in. long. We're going to announce his name to the world at large next Wednesday, but for now the hospital has him listed as 'Master (Last Name)' which has a very nice ring to it. Maybe we'll just stick with that. Mom, baby and Dad are all doing great. He has full head of hair, sharp fingernails and is devastatingly cute.

More to follow later.

Dad & Mom


Fun Facts I dug up for the new mom:

Your baby's birthstone is Ruby (Contentment)
Your baby's Astrological Sign is Leo
Your baby's Flower is Larkspur or Water_Lily (Green, Russet and Red )
Your baby was born in the Chinese Year of The Pig
Your baby will start kindergarten in 2012, be old enough to drive a car in 2023, finish high school in 2025, and will graduate from college with the class of 2029, give or take a year. Can you imagine? This time last year you weren't even pregnant yet!


click/click/click/click/click/click

Hayelp!

This would be the current state of my internet connection lately. Every night around 9:00, I start losing the connection. I can't even get into my mailbox or anything. Time for call #2 to the tech squad. Hayelp!

Today was rather strange at work. I mean, how often does your employer have a career fair at work? I mean other companies were there to hire us! Tres` Beezar!

Life as I know it is taking a strange turn. I only hope the nice girl I talked to will really pass my CV on to the hiring manager as promised. heh

The best thing to happen all week? I won a contest at Knitting4Shirley’s!
That just made all the craziness that is work life these days just disappear (insert happy smilin' me here)

Don't worry, you won't be seeing any pop-up ads here, but you may see nekkid photos of me on the internet. My husband won't know either, cause we likely won't have access to the internet any way.

Have a great weekend!

Die Candy Friday

What would happen to your blog if something happened to you? It dawned on me the other day that if I were to unravel to the big yarn shop in sky, who would know? Who would care for that matter, but how do I get the word out without all that inconvenience of coming back from beyond and scaring the shit out of all my friends and family? And so, the Last Post and Testament was born. No pun intended.

This burden task would typically fall on a family member who should will probably be an enlightened muggle. This little document will serve to further confuse the living daylights out of help them in one of their many tasks in finalizing your worldly pleasures duties. I'm also writing instructions on how they can sell off my stash and supplies, they'll need that to tap into my retirement fun funds.

Last Post and Testament


I ________________________ being of creative mind and and therefor, slightly insane, do hereby bequeath my last rites of blogship

to_______________________, who will carry out the task of final posting and keeping of or deleting said blog as she/he deems fit.



Any names and/or blog/email addresses contained herein, are those people whom I wish to be notified that I will no longer be leaving comments on their blogs or responding to theirs on mine due to the fact that I am no longer.

If, however, it is possible to do so, rest assured, I will be blogging from wherever it is that I may wind up, providing of course, they have Wifi.

Should the designated Recipient of this blog not have one of their own, instructions for posting are on page 2 of this document.



Sincerely,

Your name and blog URL

________________
Date


Don't forget the details people, you worked hard to build what you have, don't let it just fade away.

I'm Buying Me Some Leather Pants

Since I've had this honor bestowed upon me, I think it's time for leather pants and a tattoo. Thanks JenLa!, you really made my day!



I was one of their 5 nominated, so I'm passing the stardom on...each of you then go make a star out of five more and make some one's day too. K? K.

1. Debi: She was the first professional blogger/knitter to reach out to me when I didn't know Jack about either. Now I now Jack well enough to know I still have a truckload to learn.

2. Michelle: Because she is sweet beyond belief.

3. Bridget: Because she makes me think, and Bridget, I would have nominated your Carol for this too, but that would just piss you off.

4. Jessie: This woman makes me pee myself on a regular basis and although that's not considered a dignified thing to do, I always enjoy it.

5. Crafty Bernie: I met her looking for technical blog help which she rocks at, but kept going back because this girl IS crafty!

Now we can all wear leather pants together and scare the shit out of people! I could go on and on (shocking huh?) and nominate quite a few more, but then that ruins it for everyone else and I know they'll have their nominations in the bag anyway.

OK, Robin whose middle name is FO and Nora who personifies class.




Have a safe and happy 4th and don't burn anything down, I for one am invited to dinner in my back yard by the skeeter family. They're having a reunion and I am the main course.

Wiki Waki Meme

Here's your assignment should you choose to accept it. Go to Wikipedia, type in your birth month and day.
Then post the folowwing on yer blog.
3 Events
2 Births
1 Holiday

Mix and match as you please, it's your blog! Here's mine, no toilets involved this time-thank jeebus.


3 Events:



Romulus Augustus 475 Romulus Augustus appointed emperor by his father as he fled western Rome. Thanks pop!

St. Ausutine, FL 1565 St Augustine is established, it is the oldest city in the US

If you're ever in Florida, it is one cool place to visit. Lots of history here.

Henry Hudson 1609 Henry Hudson discovered the Delaware Bay. What? No else noticed a bay sitting there?

2 Birthdays:

Elizabeth Ann Seton 1774 (d.1821) Elizabeth Ann Seton 1st US born citizen to be canonized. We share the same middle name.


Jack Black 1969 Jack Black actor We share some silliness

1 Holiday:

Feast day of Augustine of Hippo 354-430 Do not! Although I loves me a good feast.





Just a reminder, the Red Carpet Convertable pattern is available for a worthy cause and a minimal price.
Annie and her family truly appreciate it. If you have a personal experience, or just want to leave an uplifting word, you can do it here:

Red Carpet Friday

The call is out, Annie is in trouble. Please spread the word. Please go here and find out how you can help, and be thankful for your blessings.

Dog Daze of Summer

It must be summer, fur balz are sleeping under the influence everywhere.

While I've been slaving away; knitting.

Another string bag completed. This one knitted from Erin’s pattern,
was fast and fun. It took me Sunday to Sunday to knit, so you should be able to knit this in about 2 hours.

The string for this was gifted to me by Nancy. Hemp For Knitting in a DK weight color #102 or chocolate brown for those of us who like a more scientific term for colors. I used almost 2 skeins (almost 300 yds) and some beads I had by my chair. Doesn't everyone?

I liked this very much, thanks Erin! I'm going to plagiarize myself on the String it Along site
just to save a little time. What's that blue thing off to the side of this finished bag you say?






I do believe that would be a first sock! The Lacy Summer Sock from Knitting Lingerie Style.
These are knit on US size 3 dpns in Knit Picks' Bare fingering weight that I dyed with Wilton's food dye. I'm getting gauge so I'm one happy camper. I had to make socks so I can use the blockers I bought from Becky. Go there! Contest! I'll wait.

A big THANK YOU! to Michelle for cheering me up again when I needed it and always screaming at me if I go away too long motivating me to keep the contents here fresh. Thank you lovie!



Linus on the other hand, is not at all interested in dogs or projects of mine, unless he's in the mood to play that is. But mostly, he just shows his great enthusiasm as much as possible.