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Saturday, December 31, 2011

Stick a Pom-pom on it, and it's Done!

"Stick a Pom-pom on it, and it's Done!"

I said those words to the DH a little over an hour ago as I saw him off to work.

I'd been explaining [why I had been sitting on my keister in front of the TV for part of the morning and] what I intended to do this afternoon.
I was finishing up a Jayne Hat for a friend's Birthday that occurs this coming week. I was near finishing - had to put on the side flaps and then I had to "Stick a Pom-pom on it, and it's Done!"

I made myself laugh a little and I just liked the sound of that phrase. I also figured Knitters might "get" the humor of it more than the average soul on the street (or DH getting into his car). So - instant blog inspiration!

And Jayne Hat #8 is done . It will be gifted to a member of the local Arizona Browncoats group; a gent who is one of my office "little brothers". Happy Birthday, Keith:


More crafting, blogging, kitty-giggles, blather, and the job search adventure is planned for 2012.


Happy New Year's Eve, all! 
Be safe, be Kind, and have Fun!



Friday, December 16, 2011

Auction results and...well, blather

Per the last blog entry, I'd noted that I had put a skein of Prism yarn into the "Magick for Terri" auction.
The auction ended yesterday (!) and the total raised on allllll the items in the auction appears to be over $71,000.00.
No, I'm not kidding. Isn't that amazing!?!

The Prism skein was only $35.00 of the funds raised, but obviously every little bit helps. There were allll sorts of things in the auction - tarot readings, jewelry, art prints, bags, masks, cookies, editing or blog services/expertise, knitted or crocheted items, and many autographed books, CDs and DVDs - donated by the Artists themselves! Neil Gaiman, Mercedes Lackey, Emma Bull & Will Shetterly, Steven Brust, and many many more. A percentage of sales from Philip Jose Farmer's estate was also included in the auction!
It was amazing to read through the offerings. Some authors auctioned off naming a character in their next book after the auction winner. Some characters were promised a grisly end. {wry grin}
These offerings seemed irresistible and folks bid pretty high to have themselves immortalized in a book by their favorite author. No, I didn't bid on those, but I was sorely tempted to bid on having a Herald Trainee in a Mercedes Lackey Valdemar novel named after me-self.

The auction is closed, but you could go peruse what was being offered for bidding - and if you've a mind to, you could still go drop off a donation for Terri Windling.

All in all, it was an amazing thing to watch and participate in.

What else has been going on? Wellllll....

Job Stuff: The prospect of Unemployment looms large. There is still a slim chance that someone will buy our system for a more limited use (and that they might want to keep some of us techie-types), but the clients are in the process of moving off our system and it is most likely the doors will be closing in February and I'll be on the job hunt.

Knitting Stuff: My knitting has been jumping around a bit.

  • I knit some "vanilla" scarves for friends to sell at some craft shows. 
  • I've been knitting hats for a friend at work who's head tends to be cold due to some medical treatments. He has been gifting me with the HUGE compliment of wearing the hats every day. (I'm actually beginning to wonder if he only takes them off when I give him a new hat...) He has requested I knit him a yellow hat. He takes pictures out at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. I saw him at the ASDM a few months ago in the Hummingbird enclosure - while I was knitting on a Jayne Hat. The Hummingbirds flew right up to my knitting to see what all the yellow was about so my friend would like a Hummingbird-lure-yellow hat and I will be knitting him one. 
  • I have done a little knitting on the Einstein coat (as noted in the Nov. 20th blog
  • I'm also knitting some hats...and maybe a scarf for charity donations. Some friends de-stashed to donate some machine washable yarn for this endeavor! (Thank you, Scoobie2 & Coffeeem!!)
  • I've mostly been working on socks and fingerless mitts. Some are for holiday gift-giving, but IOUs or alternate gifts seem likely at this point. 
  • Yes, that means the recently inspired Cat Bordhi knitting has been abandoned for the time being. 
  • Start-itus and the lure of knitting-without-deadlines is strong but I have been resisting thus far and sticking to the fingerless-mitt knitting. 

Health Stuff:  I have lost a small bit of weight and once again fit comfortably in my jeans. {Happy sigh}. Some jeans are even making me think about using a belt and I have un-retired a couple of smaller-sized pairs of jeans. However, I recognize the Holidays are upon us and I do like to bake for the holidays. Ok, baking is not the problem...it's the sampling, tasting, and eating all the chocolate/bread/eggnog I can get my hands on that is the problem.
It is my hope to continue my treadmill antics to offset some of the rampant eating that has already begun this month. We'll see what happens.

Cat Stuff: All the fur-balls are doing quite well. They are even more lovey of late and insist on sitting upon us and sleeping with us at every opportunity. (Of course, this has nothing to do with the cooler temperatures of winter, noooooo.)
Gryphon watching "Kitty TV"
CooPurr (gray) & Mikale - I call them the sun and the moon cats.
Brothers Nikoli (ginger & white) and Mikale (strawberry blond).
They sleep on top of each other - "Yin & Yang" cats.
Nikoli in the DH's new tool bag. 

I know, I shorted you on knitting pictures. Think of allll the free time I'll have to blog when I'm searching for a new job. You might get your fill of kitty & knitting pictures then!

I have to dash...have more Christmas Cards to write, stuff to wrap, baking to do, and Holiday movies to grin over in a very silly way.

Have a lovely evening!