KiniaCat Crafts

Retreating...Craft Retreat, that is.

2012-01-29T23:45:00.098-07:00

I returned from the 2012 Winter Bear Cabin Inn retreat earlier today.

3 days of hanging out with friends, near constant crafting (knitting for me), and reallllly good meals provided by our hostess, Carol.
This is a link to the 2009 retreat. That link has quite a few pictures of that adventure.
This post does not have much for pictures. Well, not much for "during" pictures. I have some after pictures...but I'm getting way ahead of myself.

So...we had plans. Plans that went awry.
I was supposed to be co-pilot/navigator on the ride from Tucson to Show Low in the White Mountains. Unfortunately, early Thursday morning, a couple of hours before departure time, my friend called to say she was physically indisposed for an undetermined amount of time and she wouldn't be driving up that day and wasn't sure when/if she would be going to the retreat.

We discussed other car-pooling options, but those options were limited due to other life challenges.

The short version of those options/challenges: One car was full and a 2nd driver/friend may not go/might leave at a moments notice to be with a dear friend whose mother was in the hospital.
However, I left a message for the third group of crafters going to the retreat.

(Hindsight found that the car that was full - wasn't. Someone had to cancel out at the last minute.

The friend that might leave at a moment's notice - didn't.

And the friends I called didn't get the message until late in the day.

I think Fate felt I was supposed to take on this trip by myself.)

I didn't hear back from the folks for whom I'd left the message, so I plotted to drive myself. I updated (woke) the DH so he'd know what was up (and that no one had stolen the truck). He provided hugs, some useful lower-gear/over-drive advice for traversing the Salt River Canyon, and gave me a granola bar for a snack. {wry grin - I think the last time I drove the Salt River Canyon - I was in a stick-shift. Automatics are....not entirely automatic. I prefer a standard transmission.}

The drive was pleasant and uneventful. Converting from co-pilot to Pilot meant I was not going to be spending the drive knitting {sigh}. But I was accompanied by a few podcasts ("News from Lake Wobegon", "Sticks and String", and I tried out "Science Friday" (which is spiffy) ). I also listened to the soundtrack to a recent Arizona Theater Company production of "Daddy Long Legs"(It was a truly charming and lovely show. I wish I'd been able to see it twice!).

There were not a lot of people on the road. And - unlike the other crafters (serious quilters all), I had not stopped at the various Quilt Stores on the way to Show Low so I was the first to arrive at the retreat. I got to spend a nice afternoon with Carol, who runs the retreat, and her sweet black Labrador, Maggie.

I can summarize my retreat with the following words (in no particular order of accomplishment):
Knitting, eating, reading whilst knitting ("Shadow Unit" on Kindle & a "Knit Wear" magazine), eating, refreshing my memory with Continental knitting videos on YouTube whilst pseudo-Continental knitting, eating, marveled at and admired the various quilt-related projects undertaken and completed by my fellow craft-campers, watched a Glee episode (yes, still knitting), checked on twitter & Ravelry a little, tracked down some patterns online, inherited Halloween fabric to make a quilt for charity, eating, participated in my first KnitChat on twitter Saturday AM (!), tummy-scritches for Maggie, admiring the mountain scenery, and um....more eating and knitting.

What did I knit? Alllll sorts of things. Mostly I moved forward on a variety of projects; but I did finish one. This is a smaller version of the "June is for Jag" scarf in Gentle Breeze Alpaca homespun-with-a-story. (Blocking is pending.)

Did you notice Nikoli "helping" with the photography?

These are the Works In Progress (WIPs) that I worked on during the retreat.
(See...the knitting pictures/updates I promised you several blogs ago. Hmmm - there are stories to go with most of these projects. Yep...fodder for another blog.)

The Birds Nest Shawl is nearing completion - I'm on the last pattern round!

This is what the pattern looks like when it's not all scrunched up.

I did a welt every day on my Swirl Jacket.

Knotty But Nice hat for Rick at work.

Purlicue pattern by Cat Bordhi.
I'm actually on the 2nd of this pair of socks
and this one is still heel-less.

Tardis Socks for the Little Brother.

Lenore Socks for me are into the heel.

This is the reason I was refreshing my Continental knit-knowledge.
I worked a little on this colorwork sock from a class at SS11.
I need to practice colorwork for the Tardis Socks.

Princess Langwidere Cowl from "What Would Madame DeFarge Knit"

And these Mitt Envy Fingerless Mitts were finished before the retreat. However, I did get to deliver them to my would-have-been driver, who was well enough to come join us on Friday!

Aside from the project photos, there are no pictures of the retreat quilts or crafters.

I did try to take pictures of the night-time view from the window in my bedroom. Pine trees black against the dark blue sky with stars shining through the branches and in the surrounding sky.
Unfortunately, that is not a picture I could wrangle from my spiffy little camera.
But I did get a picture of the same view with the dawn back-lighting the tree silhouettes:

The drive back home was not quite as "fun" as the ride up. I suspect it mostly relates to the lack of months of anticipation that accompanied the "going" trip. And there were more cars on the road (cars more interested in rushing past the speed limit than myself). But I had another round of Podcast-listening ("Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me") to keep me laughing all the way down the mountain.

My return home yielded some strong evidence that the DH and cat-critters had missed me some:

Yep, the DH had gotten me flowers and left me a very sweet note.

Gryphon also greeted me and evidence of the cat's contribution to the gift was obvious.
(Did you notice the tattered rose leaves?) ;-)

I enjoyed the retreat and look forward to the next one, but I'm very glad to be home.

Tucson Quilt Show Apologies

2012-01-23T22:30:00.030-07:00

Greetings.
Quickie post/confession.

On Sunday, I had tweeted out 6 pictures from the Tucson Quilters Guild 34th Annual Quilt Show and had indicated I would post more here on the subject. Alas, it was inappropriate for me to have tweeted those pictures or to post on this blog any of the quilt pictures I took.

The tweets have been deleted and you see before you an honest, but colorless blog post.

Here's the deal.
When I went to the Quilt Show on Friday, I did ask if I could take pictures and the kind hostesses readily answered "Yes".
However, I forgot to ask if I could post them on the blog/the Internet. (Yep, key plot point there...and I usually do ask about the blog option. {sigh})

On Sunday, whilst reviewing the Quilt Show outing with a favored friend (who had been unable to attend the quilt show with me), I made mention of my colorful tweets of the morning. My friend asked if the Quilt Guild would be alright with that sharing. Even as I answered that I'd asked about pictures being OK, I realized I hadn't asked about blogging or tweeting said pictures. (Thank you, Linda, for asking!!)

I checked the Quilt Show program and the Show Etiquette noted folks were welcome to take photographs for "personal use only, unless otherwise specified...".
Hmmmm. That didn't sound like a "go for it" endorsement to brighten up the blog with spiffy quilt pictures. So I e-mailed my questions to a couple of the Tucson Quilter's Guild contacts Sunday night.

Monday morning I received a very nice response AND an even nicer phone call from one of the Quilt Show Directors. (Yes, I'd fessed up and fully disclosed myself in the e-mail.)

The lack of pictures in this blog tells the tale and also indicates my support and personal feelings that we do need to protect the ideas and patterns of our fellow crafters.

The Quilt Show Director indicated they would consider modifying the photograph etiquette in the Program to clearly state that photographs should not be posted on Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc.
I think that is a grand idea.

So...please take my word for it, the quilts were spectacular (some photos are available on the Guild's website) and inspired me to go look a little longingly at my fabric stash. I'm more of a basic quilter and have mostly made baby blankets. A very little quilting from my stash was covered in this blog post.

Having been pointedly reminded of my fabric stash, I didn't buy much at the Quilt Show beyond two spiffy patterns from the Quilt for a Cause group. I was impressed with their patterns, their premise, and with the charming and lively Jain Barrett, who explained what their group was about and who had also designed one of the patterns I purchased ("Desert House"). (I also purchased "Scraphunters's Star2 by Evelyn George and Dorothy Lee.")

Thusly, this confession-blog serves as a reminder that we should always ask if we can share pictures on the Internet and offers even more proof that I can be a ditz on occasion.

Yes, I am very chagrined that I inappropriately tweeted quilt pics.
The good news is, I have VERY few Twitter followers (11) and, near as I can tell, the pictures were not re-tweeted. (Saved by anonymity!)

More KiniaCat on the Internet

2012-01-07T21:44:00.112-07:00

I seem to have expanded my Internet "Footprint".

Inspired to Read more by the Internet
I was Introduced to the Goodreads website by an invite from Heather Ordover, my Tri-Fold Knitters Bowl teacher who is also an author, the mastermind of the Craftlit Podcast and of Crafting a Life Originals.

I went to peek at Goodreads, became rather smitten with the prospect of something like a "Raverly" for books, and created an account - as KiniaCat. (I try to be consistent with my alter-ego names and limit my AKAs.)

I have always loved books; a love I inherited from my parents and that is shared with my siblings and friends. Reading is my original hobby. Although Knitting is now the primary ~~addiction~~ interest, I still love to read (sometimes while knitting!) and generally have several books underway at the same time.

But, I have to confess, I think logging what I'm reading is actually inspiring me to read more.
(It might appeal to my list-making/check-it-done mentality.
Or maybe it just gives me some "evidence"of my book-reading accomplishments?)

Inspired to Tweet.
(I know, I never thought I'd go there either.)

When I traveled to Portland for Sock Summit 2011 (yep, more SS11 blogs are pending), I got to meet Natalie, NatKnit of the "I am addicted" blog, the "Cloudy with a Chance of Fiber" podcast, AND...she puts out a daily internet magazine: NatKnit Daily. I am agog at what this woman accomplishes - she definitely has more than a Footprint on the Internet! AND there's more...one of the things that made me think about going to look at Twitter...she hosts weekly KnitChat on Twitter. That caught my ear. It's a weekly forum on Twitter where folks "tweet"/discuss knitterly stuff (there's also a CrochetChat and a SpinChat!).

I was tempted by her Twitter adventures and put "Check out Twitter" on my Internet to-do list.
I also began to notice most of my favored Podcasters were on Twitter: The Knitmore Girls, David Reidy of the Sticks and String, the Knit Wits, and favored blogger, The Yarn Harlot has been tweeting for a while. The list of tweeting Knitterati goes on...

Yep, I finally went to look at Twitter and I created an account as... {surprise} @KiniaCat.
(Note - I'm only "real-time" tweeting when I have access to wi-fi so most of my Tweets are tardy comments.)

My original intention had been to lurk and I found alllll sorts of other spiffy people to "follow" on Twitter: the Dalai Lama, Heather Ordover, Tina Newton, Cindy from Sock Summit (Yeah!), NatKnit's Natalie, Cast On's Brenda Dane, Stephen Colbert, Cat Bordhi, Robin McKinley, Franklin Habit, Simon's Cat, Dolores Van Hoofen...the list is long and varied. Pretty much a good chunk of the people I admire, knitterly or not, are on Twitter.
(I have to say, I find the ironic contrast of following both the Dalai Lama and Dolores Van Hoofen rather delightful!)

Again, my original intent had been to lurk. And then...one of those knitterly people I so admire... "Followed" me back on Twitter. (I'm pretty sure out of sheer politeness.)

Suddenly, I felt like I was required to tweet something clever and interesting.
And my mind was a blank! I literally looked around the dining room trying to think of something interesting to say.
Nothing useful came to mind beyond "Need to refill the cat bowls" and "I really should get my sewing machine off the dining room table".

There was nothing in my mind that seemed remotely interesting. And even as I knew that they'd followed me as a kind, polite, response to my following them, the personal expectation that I needed to somehow perform/reward that following was nearly overwhelming.

So...what were my first Tweets?
You guessed it, the Cats provided (and continue to provide) cheap twitter entertainment:

"Treating cats to small lunch meat bits. CooPurr's lands on his head. He shakes head furiously. Gryphon licks lunchmeat off cabinet door."

and later...

"BTW...Gryphon has been revisiting the cabinet door this evening to make sure there is no more meat stuck to it..."

Oddly enough, I now have a few more followers beyond that first "courtesy" follow. Some are friends from SS09. And some are spiffy new-to-me knitterly types. I don't know how they found me, but I follow them back gladly when I perceive their fiber orientation and clever minds.
However, there are also...spam-y types that appear suddenly to follow me, but they seem to go away in a day or so if I don't follow them back.

I am finding that I'm getting exposed to more worldly news and fibre-articles as the folks I'm interested in tweet about topics in which they're interested. I retweet the things I'd like to remember, things with which I wholeheartedly agree, and also the things that make me laugh out loud.

So. I'm Tweeting. (still can't quite believe I went there.). And...I like it.
But I still have a great deal to learn about Twitter and Goodreads. My cluelessness is seriously evident.

Will there be more "KiniaCat" on the Internet? I don't know.
There are some seriously clever things being created here.
However, I have realized I am spending a bit more time on the internet. Possibly more than I should.

We'll see what happens next.
It could very well be that there is already more than enough "KiniaCat" on the Internet.

(Oh, but there is this one other website folks keep mentioning that looks amazing: Pinterest.
It reminds me of "Inspiration Boards") ;-)

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

2011-12-31T15:36:00.006-07:00

"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!

Auction results and...well, blather

2011-12-16T18:55:00.001-07:00

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!

Yarn for sale! And some even more amazing stuff - for an excellent cause!

2011-11-30T23:50:00.000-07:00

Greetings and Salutations!
This is a quick entry to make known to you an amazing, generous effort to help a worthy soul.

My offering in the auction: this skein of Prism Cool Stuff Half yarn, Color: Tumbleweed:

What auction? The website explains it best.
However, I would like to offer my perspective on this Auction to help Terri Windling.
Some of the folks organizing the auction are personally known by me. They are truly spiffy people and their request and intentions are real and just.
I have not met Terri Windling, but several of her stellar efforts grace my bookshelves.

Again, the website explains it best.
Please go take a look...see if any of the auction items strike your fancy. Check back often as more items are being added every day. You'll probably be impressed and tickled at the number of items being offered. And consider the names of the folks offering the items for auction - you might recognize a few!
(And this could also be a Very Unique Holiday Shopping opportunity!!)

Please - share the link to Magick 4 Terri with other interesting folks who might be tickled and tempted by this worthy endeavor.

My thanks, KiniaCat

Hope, Thanksgiving and Bittersweet Thanks

2011-11-24T14:01:00.002-07:00

I have been enjoying a quiet day at home.
Cleaned the Bathrooms.
Worked on two knitted Christmas gifts - a very little bit.
Made Pizza with Trader Joe's crust for lunch as an odd treat 'cause the DH has to work this evening.
We're plotting for turkey tomorrow.
The DH will find a freshly-made pecan pie when he gets home (one of his favorites).
There's a few more items on my to-do list for this Thanksgiving day but I wanted to pause a jot down some things for which I am Thankful.

I reviewed last year's Turkey-day blog and it made me consider life in general and how things change.
The interesting/challenging job I gave thanks for last year is likely about to end and I'll be pondering what else I should do for a living.

Most apt proverb: "May you live in interesting times".

That quote has been cited as a Chinese proverb or a curse.
I thought I'd heard it mentioned somewhere as a Klingon blessing.
{wry grin}

Times are indeed interesting.
There is a lot of unrest in the world. A lot of people in need.
A lot of things that make us question the state of humanity.

Sometimes it's hard to have hope or be thankful when you are only exposed to the bad side of the world. (Policemen have a tough job indeed - think about it.)

If I turn away from the usually-not-good news being repeated continuously on numerous channels and consider the positive aspects of the world and the actions of good people...even here in my home town, I find hope blooms.

My generous friends, local knitters, and our local yarn shops for all the knitting performed to help babies and children and adults in need - year round.
The various charities around town that I and others support for animals, homeless folks, under-insured cancer patients, children's homes - the list goes on.
Quilt groups that work year-round on a variety of projects like Halloween quilts created for children that will be stuck in the Hospital this last & next October 31st.
Diaper and food drives.
Local drives to help folks in need around the world (i.e. World Care).
The Empty Bowl Luncheon I recently attended for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.
That same week there was another charitable event - the Hickman's Family Farms "Breakfast for Dinner" Event. A variety of local restaurants around Arizona stayed open late, wearing PJs, to serve "Breakfast for Dinner" and to act as a collection point for a Pajama drive. I didn't wear PJs, but I brought 3 sets of new PJs to donate to the Arizona's Children Association.

We can be Thankful. We can be aware of the profound challenges in our world, but we can also look for, encourage, and participate in the good.

Before closing out this blog post, I would like to briefly honor the memory and writings of my favorite author, Anne McCaffrey. She passed away this week and the world does seem different because I know she no longer physically living there at Dragonhold Underhill.

I started reading her books as a young teen and never stopped. I think she reinforced and enhanced the teachings from my parents. That I am not limited to a certain type of place in the world because I'm female. That mine is not the only viewpoint - consider the world from different perspectives. Learn!

Her books are "comfort food" reading to me. I will reread her books knowing the story and writing will still catch me up and enhance my world.
I sent her a Thank You note years ago...and I continue to be grateful for her talent, imagination, clever mind, and the ongoing legacy of her writing. Bittersweet thanks are offered again today.

Janice's Library blog post for Anne McCaffrey's birthday a few years ago is worth a visit. She includes several of my favorite drawings of Ms. McCaffrey.

And this says it best.
Thanks are offered to Ms. Bull and Murasaki_1966 for this comment posted on the Dark Roast Blog.
"Say not in grief that she is gone, but in thankfulness that she was."

Exercise and the Type A Personality

2011-11-20T20:56:00.001-07:00

Ok...I'm not a strict "Type A" according to the Stress.About Type A personality test. {wry grin}
The test results: "You have some Type A features, but are not the 'typical Type A'. You can probably really benefit from the resources below."

So it appears I'm more of a Type A Lite.
But I do have a fondness for multi-tasking. (Possibly to compensate for a mild procrastination habit...)
Foibles. I gotz dem.
(No, I don't multi-task whilst driving. No knitting, no reading, no texting...while driving. (Don't get me started on the ninnies that text and drive at the same time. {grrrrr}) )

I've mentioned before that I learned at Sock Summit 2009 that my habit of walking and knitting at the same time may not be something everyone does.
I believe that habit stemmed from my original penchant in high school to read as I walked from class to class. Knitting while walking seemed like a natural progression and I can definitely look around more when I knit and walk. Granted I'm not knitting anything complicated...but there are a lot of "vanilla" knitting projects that travel well.

ANYWAY...So, when I exercise I tend to multi-task. I get bored just walking on a treadmill.

(In Arizona, you can't always go for a walk outside without risk of overheating your brain.)

So - I walk on a Treadmill and I listen to podcasts when I walk.

Or I read.

Or I watch stuff on Netflix on the clunky old monitor (when I can see around the Cat Tails...).

And - sometimes I knit.

Sometimes I knit and listen to podcasts or watch Netflix.

Multi-tasking heaven. (And Lord knows I need the exercise...)

I was first inspired to try knitting on the treadmill by a deadline on a lap afghan that was too big to carry around.

Consequently, I found it was also cumbersome to balance when walking on the treadmill.

My first treadmill knitting support system was...a pair of my Dad's red suspenders spider-web wrapped round the arms/railing on the treadmill. I kid you not!
It worked reasonably well too. Sorry, I don't have any pictures but, as you've already imagined, it was pretty silly looking.

The suspenders were not "young" and the elastic gave out in less than a year - but long after I'd finished that afghan. I tried to find a basket (like some folks put across their bathtubs) to hold my treadmill-books and maybe give me some knitting support, but I couldn't find one that was wide enough for the treadmill.

CooPurr "assisted" in creating my current knitting treadmill support system.

I have sweaters. Sweaters have to be washed and dried flat. So - I have sweater drying racks. (You can see what's coming, huh?)
I used to put the sweaters on the racks to dry over the bathtub.
E'yup...CooPurr tried to walk on one of them. Sweater drying racks aren't made to hold 17+ pounds of seal-gray gato suspended over the bathtub. The rack snapped, CooPurr scrambled out of the bathtub in a panic (for some reason he is not longer interested in strolling around the edge of the bathtub), and I had this square of mesh without a rack.

Add some little tiny bungee cords to the sweater rack mesh square, and you've got a hammock to hold your knitting on the treadmill.
(It's ok...laugh if you need to. I understand.)

I use the rust-colored bag to the left of the treadmill to store (hide) the yarn (from Gryphon).
I finished the above Pink/White lap throw a while ago. I plan to drop it off at World Care after I finish another under-construction lap throw (currently 3/4 the way finished).

And when considering the weight-lifting I'd have to perform to prepare to read the Mark Twain Biography whilst walking on the treadmill, I came up with this option:

Nikoli likes to jump up to visit me when I'm walking/reading.
I try to keep an eye out for him to avoid a teeter-totter cat/book incident.

You folks that sew might recognize the above reading-platform as a cardboard cutting board that is usually spread out on the dining room table for cutting out sewing projects.
I inherited this 2nd one from my Mom and I found this use for it (when I'm not using it for blocking knitting stuff).

I've also been using the "hammock" system to knit on my Einstein Coat during treadmill walks.

Didja notice the orange ear in my project bag in the picture above?
Nikoli "helps" me on the treadmill a lot. He was seriously intrigued by the heavy-duty ziplock in which the Einstein supplies are stored and - he climbed inside.

See - walking on a treadmill doesn't have to be boring!
(Especially if there are cats around to "help"!)

A Cat Bordhi Weekend...well, mostly

2011-11-14T16:49:00.003-07:00

What to say about this weekend?

I am profoundly tickled.
My arms hurt some.

My brain was not entirely boggled - which surprises me.

I need to go update Ravelry with alllll the new projects I can't wait to start - and the ones I started during the classes I took this weekend.

(Caution - extreme knitterly content. I had a blast!)

So - about 6 months ago, folks started alerting me that a "Knitterati" was coming to teach in Arizona. I reviewed the class options and registered for two classes.

I am profoundly tickled.

Cat Bordhi came to Arizona this month. She was teaching up in Phoenix and then came to Tucson to teach at Kiwi Knitting this last weekend. (Bonus! She brought us some rain too!!)

I am a profound admirer of Ms. Bordhi's very clever mind and amazing, fun, and beautiful patterns.

I've made a variety of Moebius-based items from her books "A Treasury of Magical Knitting" and "A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting".

Heather Ordover got me started on Moebius knitting in July 2008 - also at Kiwi Knitting! (Heather does the nifty Craftlit podcast and can also be found on Ravelry & Goodreads.)

Back in 2008, I made a moebius scarf for practice and then worked my way through (with guidance from Heather) a pretty spiffy Trifold Knitter's Bowl - in a variety of purple feltable yarns from my stash.

From there I knit and felted/fulled a variety of Moebius Baskets and bowls.

(Um...pictures are pending...(seems I put them somewhere "safe")...but you can see a lot of them on my Ravelry project page. (Well, if you have an account. Sorry).)

However, the opportunity to take a moebius class from Ms. Bordhi herself was irresistible so I registered to take her "Magical Moebius Knitting" class given on Friday.

I must say, getting to hear Ms. Bordhi explain Moebius knitting with all the background, experience, tips, and charming humor was stellar.

I'd done my "homework" and refreshed my memory on the Moebius Cast-on but choosing a class project was a bit more challenging. I wanted to knit something that was a little beyond where I'd already been - but I didn't want to make myself miserable (or look like a blithering idiot) during the class. After plotting 4 new moebius projects**, I settled on starting a "Spacious Show & Tell Moebius Bag" during class with a skein of dark green variegated LanaLoft from my stash. (Stash-busting!!)
(I love Lanaloft - it felts beautifully and doesn't come with the mohair fuzziness and shedding of the Lamb's Pride. But yes, the stash busting for this project will include some Lamb's pride.)

Ms. Bordhi offered a wide range of tips and information regarding...the cast-on, project options, moebius structure (I especially loved the "equator" reference to the cast-on row), how lace moebius knitting creates an opposite-slanting parallel pattern, wool options, the shrinkage tests she'd done, how to test for felt-ability (separate strands down to near-fluff & try spit-splicing - if it doesn't felt, it's not wool, not a felt-able fiber or is superwash), and felting clues and how-to info (hang onto your top-loader washer and put projects into a well built/sealed fabric bag to keep the felt fluff out of the mechanics of your washer (the Yarn Harlot explains why here - from experience)).

I was especially intrigued to hear more about how certain yarns felt better doubled (Cascade 220) and that the Brown Sheep Wool felted more densely when knitted very loosely than when doubled.
I did a poor job taking notes. {sigh} I guess I could try to take the class again another time...{happy prospect!}.

Cat did some of her close-up demonstrating outside in our lovely "Fall" weather. The knitters in the class were a charming, colorful, knitterly, and intelligent group. Some of them were known to me from the Tucson Handweaver's and Spinner's Guild and from other knitterly events and classes.

(Everyone was concentrating fiercely to learn the Moebius Cast-on.)

There were a variety of scarves and baskets started in the class. Inspiring. I had not realized the entrelac-like structure of the Undulating Moebius Scarves. That's a whole 'nother level of fascinating!! I'm also tempted to knit one of the lace moebius scarves/wraps and I'd like to see if I have any yarn in the stash that would work for a "Lost Trail Cape.... Yep, the blather demonstrates the level of inspiration (start-itis) this class inspired.

K. Trying to move on. The class was grand and lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I did not take the Saturday class, "Finding the Fountain of Fresh Knitting Ideas", fearing my knitting was not up to a "design" level. I heard from friends who did take the class that is was also very inspiring, a great deal of fun, and that it offered some extremely interesting perspectives and thought processes.

My arms hurt some.

Nope - the general aches and pains I had on Sunday were not related to extreme or prolonged knitting.
I helped my little brother move on Saturday. {wry grin} Complete with boxes, chairs, bed, dresser, bungee cords to keep everything in the truck...and a bit of a drive.
Slightly out of the ordinary exercise can inspire aches and pains. It wasn't too bad, but I noticed my muscles some on Sunday.

My brain was not entirely boggled - which surprises me.

I was back at Kiwi on Sunday for Cat's "New Pathways for Sock Knitters" class. I've had the book that supports this sock structure for years, but had not yet really explored it and had certainly not knit any socks from it. Earlier in the week I had done some studying of Ms. Bordhi's videos relating to the book's techniques: increases, decreases, wraps, and a refresher of Judy's magic cast on.

In the class and a little bit Sunday evening, I knit two sample socks ("Upstream" & Foxglove") and a very small basket that allowed us to practice the new heel turn (no gusset stitches to pick up!!!).
I plan to finish knitting the matching pairs of the sample socks to gift away as baby socks but there are sooooo many patterns and variations on the basic sock structure to explore.

I finally got to use my spiffy alphabet stitch markers from Jeds Joy - and they were much admired by my table-mates. It rained pretty steadily Sunday so there were no "Fresh Aire" demonstrations behind the shop - we were indoor knitters that day.

My "Ah-Ha" moment from the class: the book basically covers variations on where to put the increases for the instep/arch rise. Increases on the sole of the foot - on the top or all on one side. The designs in the book were inspired by the increase placement options and it's fun and amazing! It makes sense that this is the first book in a series...where to stop was probably the hard part of writing the book! The heel turn utilizes concealed wraps that minimize holes or gaps and do not require us to pick up stitches to join the heel to the instep stitches. And the basic structure works well with toe-up or top down. I have always been intrigued by the Coriolis Sock pattern and now I have a hands-on clue regarding how to knit it and why the pattern flows the way it does, emulating the Coriolis effect of the earth!

Another "Ah Ha" moment was looking down our table to see all the Lorna's Laces Cat Bordhi Ah-Ha Learning Yarn. The bright colors and short color changes work well to isolate the parts of the knitting stitches and make it easy to see what you're doing or what Cat was demonstrating. I like primary colors and rainbow-y stuff so I did finally succumb to purchasing some of this yarn for this class. Seems like quite a few other people succumbed as well:

I learned another toe-up sock technique - the garter-stitch toe. I'm not finding a link to explain this stretchy/easy toe-up start option...it is similar to something a friend of mine does to start all of her toe-up socks (excepting she does it in stockinette stitch) so you-all may already know this. Basically, you cast on 6 stitches and then knit 12 rows of garter stitch. You pickup 6 stitches on the remaining 3 sides of your garter-stitch square and then start knitting the toe of your sock - in the round.

Cat noted that although the Magical Knitting treasuries are out of print, she does expect to release them (possibly with some updates) as e-books in 2012.

If you haven't already reviewed the patterns/techniques in her new e-book, "Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel Socks" - please take a gander. The samples she brought and the quick tour she gifted us with during our Sunday class indicates that her innovative ways of looking at and simplifying Sock architecture continues. "Impressive" is a very pale description of Cat Bordhi's mind.

Oh - and making tendrils to add to your knitting is a variation on a weaving edging technique...and it's entirely spiffy!!

I could go on for quite a while about the class and the techniques and the patterns. However, I will attempt to rein in my enthusiasm and finish up this (already very long) blog entry.

** I need to go update Ravelry with alllll the new projects I can't wait to start - and the ones I started during the classes I took this weekend.

Plotting for the moebius class stirred up other projects: I've resurrected a plan to make a "Somersaulting Rim Trifold Bowl" for a friend. She has a striking Zebra painting in her entryway so a black/white Trifold bowl came to mind when I first visited her house. I'm am newly smitten with and plotting to knit/felt "Felted Foursome" basket with more of that purple yarn that seems so abundant in my stash (and it'll kinda go with the Trifold Knitter's Bowl...).

Then there's the lace moebius scarves/wraps I'd like try and the "Lost Trail Cape...and about 9 patterns from the New Pathways book...

Hmmm - seems the Cat Bordhi classes should come with a warning label: "May cause extreme Start-itis and possible stash-enhancement.

Especial thanks are offered to Ms. Bordhi, Heather Ordover (for getting me started on Moebius knitting) and most especially to Lynn Davis at Kiwi Knitting - for her shop, excellent taste in Yarn and for being such a great hostess even when she didn't feel well. Thank you!

Random web-charm

2011-11-08T21:01:00.003-07:00

~ Rock Fishing ~

~ Gus' pool ~

Courtesy of PomPom's blog: ~ Knit your own Cat! ~

Belatedly added - another charming dog making friends with a NYC Police Horse!

Alice Roosevelt said

"First you're young, then you're middle-aged, then you're wonderful."

I rather like the idea that I am approaching "wonderful"!

Empty Bowl Luncheon and unsuccessful but heartening Dog Rescue

2011-11-05T20:08:00.016-07:00

Not Empty Bowls:
I got to attend my first Empty Bowl Luncheon to benefit the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona on Thursday.
T'was pretty spiffy.
I dropped off a donation and my friend and I purchased "large" bowl lunches (i.e. we got to choose from the larger bowl options). There were hundreds of unique, hand-crafted bowls created and donated by the Southern Arizona Clay Artists. The first one that caught my eye was lovely but struck me as the perfect bowl for my friend - and that is exactly the one that she immediately chose!

I was drawn to several but I ended up going with the first blue and white bowl that struck my fancy.

A variety of local restaurants donated bread and interesting/yummy soups for our luncheon.

Clockwise from left: Chicken with Wine(?) and Wild Rice,
Minestrone, & a spiced yam soup.
All VERY Yummy!

There was also a silent auction featuring other pieces from the clay craft. Larger bowls, cups, plates, decorated bowls - with different shapes, designs and finishes.
I bid on this bowl and one of the volunteers asked me if I knew who had made the bowl. I confessed I did not and she told me the name of the gent (which I didn't quite catch) and I confessed I still didn't know who that was. She indicated the teacher of the classes at the Kino Community Center had made the bowl I had bid upon.
And I won the silent auction on this lovely bowl and got to bring it home!

(And Gryphon helped me take the pictures!)

I enjoyed the luncheon and the time with my friend. I intend to go again next year, work permitting, and I'll try to get the word out sooner to the "Local Events" mailing group next year.

Dog Rescue Attempted:
Thursday was an interesting day. On the way back to work from the Empty Bowl Luncheon, the traffic slowed to a stop and up at the intersection, I saw two dogs trotting out into the street. I thought they'd turned off onto a side street, but when I got further along, I found they were still trotting along in the bus lane and still wandering out into the traffic.

I was in the middle lane so I passed them and pulled into a parking lot, hoping to lure them out of the street. I could see they were wearing collars and tags and they did pause to look at me...but they didn't stop. However, a well dressed blond in a nice car did stop. We talked briefly...she'd be willing to take them to the Humane Society if we could catch them. And a 3rd person stopped to see if she could help. Her van was actually loaded with alllllll sorts of dog-related stuff for a dog-shelter fund raising event over the weekend - including cans of dog food. The blond woman took a can and hopped in her car and drove off to try to catch the dogs who had moved on down the street - still wandering out into traffic.

The lady in the van lived in the area and called a neighbor to have her check the "Lost Dogs" posters she'd seen recently placed in their neighborhood.
Our duo-trotting-in-the-street didn't match the poster description and the van-lady and I hopped back into our cars and headed down the street to try to catch the dogs again.

We lost the blond lady somewhere and I stopped and tried to get the dogs to come to me two more times. They were now, at least, mostly staying out of the street. On the 4th try, they seriously paused and thought about coming to me.
Another pair of women had stopped to try and help - and they had water for the dogs! But the dogs moved on down the street again. The ladies with the water headed down the street and I tried to join them but traffic had gotten heavier again.

From my position trying to join traffic from a parking lot 60 feet or so from the next intersection - I could see traffic stopping again and the dogs were crossing the street. This is a major street - 3 lanes plus a bus lane - on each side on the median (8 lanes total). I held my breath and I saw them cross safely on the far side of the street - past all the lanes and they trotted off into a residential neighborhood. Interestingly enough...I also saw a family crossing the major street in the cross-walk, coming over to my side of the street. So maybe the cars stopped for the family at just the right time for the dogs to cross. I don't know - my view wasn't that good.
I was finally able to pull out onto the street and get down to the intersection where I found the water-ladies and the van-lady pulled off the road. The dogs where nowhere to be seen but they were off the major thoroughfare.

Unfortunately, there had also been a fender-bender at the intersection, although we didn't know if it was caused by people stopping for the dogs or the family. No one had been hurt, but 2 cars were dinged up.
A woman in a US Postal Service truck pulled in to deliver the mail and checked in about the dogs too. She hadn't been able to stop to help, but she'd been following their progress.

So - the Dog Rescue had been unsuccessful, but I was heartened that so many people had stopped to try and help.

That day was a blessing. To be reminded that there are so many people in the world willing to take extra steps...to make lovely bowls, bread, and soup, to put on or attend a luncheon to raise funds to help others have food to eat - or even to stop to try and help some dogs get safely out of the street.

Empty Bowl Luncheon - Late notice

2011-11-02T23:57:00.001-07:00

I'm posting this on the eve of the Luncheon so this is probably a bit late to inspire folks to go to lunch, but we'll see what happens.

The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona's "Empty Bowl Luncheon".

This is an event I've been meaning to go to for a few years. A friend of mine is the inspiration for my attending tomorrow's event (Thank you, Linda!). She brought this up earlier this week and we immediately plotted to go!

I am generally impressed with the Food Bank's fund raising events although, sadly, I have done a poor job of attending many of them. The events look to be quite clever, fun, and almost numerous. I'm impressed.

At the core of this particular event are handcrafted ceramic bowls that have been donated to the Community Food Bank as well as support from a variety of Tucson restaurants. Participants pay a nominal amount for lunch and they get to take home a ceramic bowl as a reminder of hunger in our community. ($10.00 small bowl or $15.00 large bowl).
I understand there is also a silent auction and I'm plotting to drop off a pre-holiday donation to offer additional support for the food bank.

This posting on the Food Bank's Website does a much better job of describing this event.

I hope to be able to do a better job of describing the event after I attend tomorrow. Bon Appetit!

Trick or Treat? No more tricks, please.

2011-10-30T12:28:00.015-07:00

I received a Halloween card this week from my best friend's mom.

It said "Happy Halloween!" and "No more tricks at your house!", referencing the recent theft of my tires & wheel rims off my very old little pickup truck.
I agree, but I have to admit - but if this is as bad as it gets...I'm doing pretty well.

Halloween Treats:

"What Just Scared this Cat"courtesy of CuteOveload.com and here's a picture of Oscar the office cat in his Halloween duds.
(By the way, this is the last of Oscar's holiday outfits to be posted on the blog unless I figure out how to add more pieces to his wardrobe.)

Happy Halloween.
May you have many treats and no tricks this All Hallows Eve.

The Tire Mis-adventures continue

2011-10-29T20:22:00.003-07:00

Remember this picture from the February 19th blog "This week's adventure - A Tire in Pieces"?

As noted in that blog, the DH and I purchased new tires for my little Izuzu Pickup truck because it was time (and because I'd pretty much driven out of one of the tires...).

I drove the Izuzu to work on Saturday two weeks ago to check for fallout on a major install and I remember thinking the tires still looked "new" even though we'd had them on the truck for 8 months.

Apparently someone else thought so too.
The Monday following...our neighbors rang the doorbell not long after sunrise to ask if we were aware that the tires and wheel rims on the little truck were gone.

Yep, gone.

The little truck was sitting on top of two jacks and it's bare, naked wheels and brake pads.

It appears the jack under the front of the truck fell over while the {insert applicable derogatory term here} were stealing the tires.
The driveway has some chips gouged out of it from the collapse and the truck shifted to the right significantly.

They left most of the lug nuts and the two jacks and took the 8-month old tires on the original, small, very plain, 20+ year old stock rims that had come with the truck.

{sigh}
The 911 operator said the tire/rim theft issue is Very common now-a-days. As is syphoning gas.
{SIGH}
The police officer who came to document the theft was very kind and helped me put the little truck up on bricks so he could take the jacks as evidence.

When he drove away, I looked at my little truck - wheel-less, a bit more beat up, and up on bricks in my driveway and I thought...there's probably a "You might be a redneck" joke in this somewhere.

Some of the neighbors stopped by to commiserate. One told me someone had stolen the bumper off her truck years before. (Who steals bumpers?!? Jeez. Ok, probably the same schmoes that steal the wheels off an ancient little truck).

I'm generally creeped out and feeling less safe in my home and pondering what it would take in my life for me to find it acceptable to steal the tires and wheels off someone's car?

We couldn't find used plain rims like the ones stolen off the truck (I guess I'm a bit glad I didn't buy my own rims back from somewhere). But basic, functional rims were hard to find . Seems tire "bling" is more prevalent than I realized. Rims had to be ordered.

So - just in very basic tires and the plainest rims we could find, we've spent more on the little truck this year than it is technically worth.
{Sigh times 3}

We picked up the new tires and rims yesterday and put them on the little truck and she rolls well on them but now something is funny with the break pressure so we have to look into that.

Don't get me wrong, I love my little 4-banger, standard transmission Pickup truck.
The rims are nice, but it makes me think of "Lipstick on a Pig" to have these semi-plain but shiny-new rims on my little "beater" truck:

Mildly excited at the prospect of unemployment

2011-10-24T19:29:00.004-07:00

(**Disclaimer - life and work pondering is today's blog content. Craft & Kitty blogging will appear in a future blog.)

I believe I've mentioned before - I am a recovering work-aholic.
Ok, I have not done much "recovering" of late.

I just came off a jag of working nearly 4 weeks straight with only 1.75 days off and many (many) over 10-hour days. The last few weeks were preceded by several months of projects/prep/planning/regulation releases...very "exciting" and time consuming. Granted I'm not just living at work for fun...we were dealing with some major installs required by the regulators of our industry. Pretty much everyone in our industry that I've talked to in the last few weeks is exhausted. Which means I'm in good company.
But I'm also questioning my current vocation.

And last week, coming off weeks of non-stop work...we were told there is a possibility that our part of the company will be closing it's doors or that the system/programming code we write/maintain will be sold. Whether or not we, the employees, will be part of the deal or if moving to another state is a requirement of continuing employment remains to be seen.

It's happened a few times in the last 20+ years I've worked with this system.

Sometimes the new owners make me wonder "What the h...?" right off the bat.
Sometimes I think, "This is it, now we can grow and get the things done we need to do.".
The latest owners impressed me with their integrity and long-term planning. Except it now appears we may not have ever quite made it into the long-term plan. Not without some additional investors.
I'm wondering if more emphasis was put on finding investors than was applied to taking on the new businesses that had been approaching us on a regular basis over the past few years.
Anyway...we might be sold again in the next four months - or we might be closing the doors.

It would be inappropriate for me to be more specific about the job I do and the industry in which I work. I know that my blog is not mainstream and is quite unlikely to become mainstream. And that's OK. That's not why I blog. But I do still need to be circumspect in my work-related comments.

I also think it's polite.

I would like to think that the powers-that-be did everything they could to find us a secure position within their company. If they didn't...it wasn't because of maliciousness.

Our reputation in the industry is actually very good and I understand there are 3 interested parties looking at buying us.
My employment could continue. But do I want to continue?

I'm proud of what we've accomplished over the years and of my contributions to battles we've won, the challenges we've overcome, and I've met and worked with some amazing people. The regulatory companies of our industry know of me personally and on a regular basis they have made complimentary noises about me and my work.

But I'm very tired and I truly wouldn't mind if I never have to go through another 3 work months like the ones I've just been through.

Even in these very scary economic times - starting over with a new job in another industry sounds...rather attractive.
I'm a bit loony, huh?

Pilobolus

2011-10-23T22:38:00.007-07:00

I had a treat tonight - I got to see Pilobolus perform at Centennial Hall.

If you haven't seen or heard of Pilobolus before, follow the links in this blog.
They are amazing and essentially indescribable. They remind me a bit of Moebius Knitting.

My best (and feeble) attempt at describing their dance/art would be: Mesmerizing, charming, strength, clever, graceful, phenomenal, creative, thought-provoking, perfection, inspiring...stuff lika dat.

In this case, videos will do a much better job:

Ok Go + Pilobolus

"Shadowland The Transformation" (This was included in tonight's performance.)

TED - Pilobolus

Grasshopper day

2011-10-08T15:49:00.001-07:00

Whilst leaving work the other day, I had two unexpected Grasshopper interactions.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, I couldn't miss the large and stocky Horse Lubber Grasshopper...walking across the parking lot entryway to toward the sidewalk. He caught my eye because he was quite large (about 3 inches long) and because he was walking. Not hopping. Just kind of ambling along.
Sorry, there's no pictures but he looked pretty much like the first gigantor Horse Lubber Grasshopper I encountered a couple of years ago, although a little smaller and of wider girth.

I became a bit alarmed for him as someone happened to drive up and turn into the parking lot before he had reached the curb/sidewalk. However, he was not inadvertently squashed by the person driving in. Since I felt guilty about hogging the driveway ogling a colorful hopper, I did move on; leaving him to continue walking out of the street towards safety. I'm still wondering why no hopping/flying was involved in his crossing.

I turned out of the parking lot, drove through the complex, and as I was waiting to pull out onto the city street, I realized I had a stow-away.

This little gent rode with me across town and then out of town to a friend's house for an evening of crafting.

He stayed right there on the passenger side window through left turns, right turns, 40 miles per hour straight-aways (with his antennae flattened against his head), a construction zone, and a short stint at 50 MPH approaching and going over the freeway. He was still with me over a cattle guard and when I checked again he had disappeared before I stopped at the entryway of my friend's neighborhood.

Yep. Nothing earth-shattering in the blog today...just observance of a mildly strange dual happenstance involving Grasshoppers.

Can't Stop the Serenity 2011

2011-09-27T23:44:00.005-07:00

The DH, the delayed-twin (little brother) and I went to the "Can't Stop the Serenity" event Saturday night at the Fox Theater Downtown.

Our Arizona Browncoats group once again put together a terrific and fun evening to benefit "Equality Now" and "Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona". I have to say the new location at the Fox Theater was excellent. I thought it to be a friendly, stylish, historical option with bit more room for the event and displays.

There were a few vendors with a variety of spiffy t-shirts, and Serenity/Firefly or steampunk-esque items for sale/viewing - and a plethora of cunning Jayne Hats all made to benefit the CSTS charities!

(You're not seeing things, the yarn colours are different.
There are a variety of yarns mixed into these 3 hats.)

I knitted/donated the 3 Jayne Hats pictured above.
A friend of mine knitted 2 full-sized and a bag o'mini-Jayne Hats. The Arizona Browncoat shop organizer who picked up the hats I donated had crocheted her own bag o'mini-Jayne Hats for the Browncoat shop!

T'was a grand and lovely evening!

I purchased some raffle tickets but my numbers didn't come up. There were two prizes unclaimed when announced and I found out later another friend of mine (who was part of the Az. Browncoat Crew putting on the event) had the winning tickets for both items! (I think - a Serenity Music package and a Serenity book packet.)

I didn't think there were as many participants in the Costume Fashion Show/Contest as last year, but there were some stellar entrants - who deserved to win as they did.

I understand there was a gaming room downstairs featuring Serenity-based games, but I forgot to go explore to see what it was about. (Durn it!)

We were also treated to some additional pre-show entertainment: 2 episodes of "Voyage Trekkers" had the DH chortling plus we saw an episode of Steam-punk Stylish "Mantecoza" (spiffy!).
Then "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog" was offered (already a noted favorite of mine), followed by the pre-Serenity videos/messages from Joss Whedon on the excellent point of why we were all there and why you "Can't Stop the Serenity".
The main event "Serenity" on the big screen capped our evening.

And I did something I've never done before.
I got a henna tattoo on the back of my left hand/wrist. The young lady who did the deed, Bridget, indicated she'd been doing henna adornment for quite a few years and is quite particular (Thank you!) about how she creates the henna paste she uses.
She was also dressed a la Kaylee and participated in the Fashion show - after she paused some of her natural exuberant energy to neatly decorate my hand.
(Bridget contact info: bbensonatpowercdotnet. I understand she will bring her henna art to special events. She will also be at the Spring 4th Avenue Street Fair. )

She had me come back after "Dr. Horrible" when the henna was dry and she taped up my arm to allow the paste to stay put for the best possible stain.

As advised, I left it on overnight and took off my slept-in mummy-wrappings the next morning to see how my henna tattoo turned out:

Spiffy, huh?

It has darkened some over the past few days as she indicated it would:

All in all, I had a great evening and I hope to attend our Tucson "Can't Stop the Serenity" event again next year.
Grateful thanks to the Arizona Browncoats for their fun, generous and entirely Shiny efforts in putting on a stellar CSTS shindig!
Kudos are also offered to the Fox Theater for supporting and hosting this fine event.

SS11 - Weaving Art, Lost-in-Powells, Yarn, and Chocolate

2011-09-21T22:44:00.003-07:00

As noted in the 1st SS11 post, I arrived in Portland Tuesday afternoon and had hoped to have enough time after checking into the hotel to visit the...

Museum of Contemporary Craft:
When I had explored the Internet to plot my course through Portland during the Sock Summit, one of the first things I found was something I HAD to do.

The Museum of Contemporary Craft was hosting a Weaving exhibit.
A weaving exhibit of some of the Museum's Artists-in-residence weaving-inspired pieces but primarily featuring a very gifted Portland Weaver, Laurie Herrick.

There is a lot of coverage of this exhibit on the Internet - articles, blogs, flicker photo streams. Interweave Press also had an article on Laurie Herrick.

So much has already been said on this exhibit.
When I search the Internet on Laurie Herrick, the first several pages are links to this exhibit (OK, better than the first 5 pages). I plan to learn more about Laurie Herrick if I can, but here are my thoughts and impressions on the exhibit:

I am a rookie weaver.
For nearly as long as I can remember, there were two crafts to which I have always been drawn.
Knitting and Weaving. Both fascinate me. Knitting has been a bit easier to pursue. It might have something to do with the ease and portability of the equipment. I am a much more accomplished knitter than I am a weaver. (I intend to do something about that...)

I rather liked the idea of a bit of weaving in the midst of my knitterly SS11 adventure.

The exhibit had been running since March 27th and was only going on until Saturday, July 30th, so I was concerned about finding time to visit the museum around the SS11 events/classes before the exhibit closed. Thusly, I had hoped to make the Museum of Contemporary Craft my first Portland visit.

And I was successful! I was able to hop on the Max, get off on the correct stop - and figure out which direction was West by the location of the sun. {wry grin}
I'm not kidding. The Google directions said head West and I was missing the "due North" symbol on my "cliff-notes" Map so I figured out "West" by the late afternoon sun.

The ladies at the front desk were entirely kind. They gave me the basic info and indicated I was able to take photographs of the exhibit.
And I did.

I have to note, if you're interested in seeing more, and admittedly much better photography, the Museum's Website features stunning photographs - and much more information about the weaving art than you'll find here.

I thought the exhibit was inspiring and imaginative; with striking aspects of clothing design and art-work. Stimulating, amazing, and clever.
Seeing such work makes me mindful of how little I know, how much there is to learn, and how little time there is for the learning.

I have to admit, I think I dashed through the exhibit a bit, being a bit too cognizant of the pending closing time and the lack of food in my traveling schedule for the day.

But, these are the photographs I took:
(Please Click on the photos to enlarge. Information on the art was gleaned from the descriptions provided by the museum as part of the exhibit.
Unless otherwise noted, art is by Laurie Herrick.
My grateful thanks to the museum for hosting this exhibit and for enhancing my trip to Portland.)

The lady herself at her loom.

As a matter of fact, I believe this loom.

The above-left: "Drunken Plowman" also known as "Field of Grain", 1989.

"Mohair, wool and linen; Inlay. 36 x 28 inches"

The above-right: "Green Valley , c. 1960s" "Modified Basket Weave" 63.5 x 38 inches

Weaving tools - combs and a variety of shuttles.

Apologies - I missed recording the information on this weaving but it had
multiple layers and I love the painted/drawn look it has from this perspective.

The above is "Hidden Passage", 1971. "Linen, wool and fur; Inlay" 48 x 27.5 inches.

I tried to take a detail shot (above right) since the texture was so striking.

This is another piece I neglected to collect the artist/art detail, however,
I suspect it might belong to Christy Matson.
Humble apologies if I am misrepresenting this piece.

"Composition in Circles / White" and "/Black" 2011 by Christy Matson,

Mixed Media 21.5 x 21.5 each

This one was woven so fine - it seemed translucent.
The picture surely does not do it justice.

"Macrogauze 119" by Peter Collingwood. 1974.

"Linen, metal rods; handwoven" 54.25 x 37 inches

"The River, 1985" Wool; inlay 44 x 28.75 inches

The weaving above was my absolute favorite. I was struck by the colors and subject - note the inspiration photograph in the picture below as well as the artist's notes on the right.

Above left: "Selection of Laurie Herrick's yarns" "Various fibers"

Above right: "Recollect 2, 2011" by Mackenzie Frere "Silk, hemp, plant dyes" 138 x 31 inches

Recollect 2 above was a lovely subtle piece and I remember studying both sides, fascinated. Too fascinated to take a better picture apparently. {sigh} However, the artist, Mackenzie Frere blogs about this weaving here.

"Diedrich Dasenbrock and Patrick O'Neill" created "Corbett View, 2007"

"Oregon black walnut and maple"

Yep, not weaving but I fell in love with this banister. The shading of the wood and smooth flow and shape pulled me away from the bright cones of yarn. (Those of you that know me will understand it is a small feat to distract me from fibre-y stuff.)

Another weaving lacking detail in my notes. But striking and intricate.

As I recall, the picture on the left shows 2 pieces; related, but in different color schemes.

The detail picture on the right gives evidence of the intricate pattern.

I loved the "floating" squares in this weaving. When I begin to consider how it would be done, and the skills involved - admiration abounds.

I have the above recorded as "Patterns Purple, 1974" "Wool; Overshot" 64 x 45 inches. However,

the name seems to belie the shades in the weaving so I question my notes.

Yet - in defense of my notes, there is another weaving by Laurie Herrick that cite "Purple..." (see below)

when the color scheme suggests other-than-purple.

"Polychrome Purple, 1975" "Wool; Summer and Winter Polychrome" 75 x 43 inches

I'm wondering if these were part of a "Purple" series. I should track that down..

This is a SAMPLE - Quarter scale. Two sides of the same weaving.

"Tree of Life (Quarter Scale), 1969 Sample for First Unitarian Church"

"Wool; Summer and Winter on Opposite" 44.5 x 28 inches

The photo above presents my other favorite piece from this collection. I thought all the coats were especially lovely, but my favorite is on the right - the "Laurie Coat". It is kind of a swing coat - but I loved the drape, cut and simplicity.

Whilst I was on the second floor, I got to meet the museum curator, Namita Gupta Wiggers.

She brought to my attention the copious notes displayed in the garment area - some about the "Laurie Coat" of which I'd just become enamored. The coat was woven with shaping in the design. I have done a little sewing and it was a paradigm shift for me to consider shaping built into the creation of the fabric.

Again...so much to learn.

A very art-ful dress and a several spiffy shawls.

I spoke with the curator for a bit. I'd never met a curator before, although I'd always thought it would be an interesting job. My ignorant stereotypical expectations that a curator would be a tall, elderly gent with a moustache have been quashed.

Ms. Gupta Wiggers was very engaging and most patient - especially considering that she and some other folks were in the midst of setting up the next exhibit that would be opening in just a few days. We talked a bit about blogging, weaving, the examples of the lace-work pottery I'd seen on the website for the next exhibit, and the Sock Summit. She had the ladies downstairs give me her card and I took that as a bit of a compliment.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love the idea of the Museum of Contemporary Craft and how much I enjoyed my visit. Looking at the various exhibits they've had for the past few years, I truly envy the people of Portland this treasure. I do intend to return to explore it further on my next Portland adventure.

Bonus! I also found more examples of Laurie Herrick's work featured on YouTube

I left the museum and headed toward Powells with the intent of visiting the Knit Purl store afterwards...

And here's an example of one of my frequent Oregon "Green" "Shiny" moments.

In Arizona, we have our own, milder, and sometimes spiney versions of greenery. In my Portland adventure, I couldn't help but have "ooooh-Shiny" moments in admiring the more lush and varied types of greenery in Oregon.

Reeds or miniature bamboo along a water feature.

On to Powells.
In my limited experience - this is the ultimate book store. A city block wide and three stories tall.
A near-perfect representation of Jorge Luis Borges' quote "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of Library".

{Happy sigh - Bookstore}

And I found Powells had setup a nifty display in honor of the Sock Summit:

I had a sandwich and tea from Powell's cafe and ... was cured of my vague retirement plan to move into Powells and live there. A crucial part of the plan had been the point that everything I needed was there - food and books - lots of books. (OK, I hadn't yet addressed the profound lack of yarn...). But the sandwich was, uh, well...edible but will not inspire a repeat performance.

Reality asserts itself in the form of an merely adequate meal and a fantasy dies.

However, I was in Powell's...THE bookstore...and... I, uh, lost track of the time.

Yeah, SO not a surprise.

So after I'd wandered through pretty much every part of the store (gleeful smile), I realized it was now too late to go visit Knit Purl because they had closed for the evening.

I had also collected a few books to commemorate my visit:

I had a minor Neil Gaiman fit and was tickled to pick up one of the
Emma Bull novels on my to-find list.
And to purchase it at Powells seems to enhance the find somehow.

Sooooo - having missed out on my "Yarn" opportunity for the day, I walked over to investigate one of the 3 chocolate shops on my to-visit list - Cacao.

I forgot to take pictures, but it's a charming store with bars of chocolates in many many flavors, truffles, and many, many lovely temptations. They have a little seating outside and some inside as well. I purchased some bars of dark chocolate (for me) and some flavored with coffee for the DH.

My newest chocolate addiction, however, is for the Cacao Drinking Chocolate.

I had a "shot" - a small cup of warm drinking chocolate flavored with cinnamon - and it was easily the very best "hot chocolate" I've ever had in my life. I am smitten and craving it again with every remembrance. {delighted, wistful sigh}

After that lovely chocolate interlude, I returned to my hotel considering my trip to Mt. St. Helen's the next day - Wednesday.

Pre-SS11 Portland, weaving, books, and chocolate...t'was a pretty nifty day all in all.

September 11th, 2001 - Where were you?

2011-09-11T21:04:00.005-07:00

"A date which will live in infamy." President Franklin D. Roosevelt said those words on December 8th, 1941.

The phrase above came to mind when I tried to think about what I wanted to say today.
Today - September 11, 2011.

It's been 10 years. A decade.

The Twin Towers.

American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175.

The Pentagon.

American Airlines Flight 77.

The attack stopped by the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 in the woods of Pennsylvania.

I think the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, are this generation's "Pearl Harbor".

Horrific, surreal, tragic, heroic, poignant, unbelievable, shocking, educational, cruel, life-altering, displays of great hate and greater love..the start of another version of a "World" war.

Where was I on the morning of September 11, 2001?

I was waiting for a friend to to meet me for coffee at the Bristol Double-Decker coffee bus.
I had the week off with my husband for his birthday.
I had no idea what was happening. My friend was late and that was unusual.
I called her and she tried to tell me what was happening. I heard something about a plane flying into a building. There had been a few recent instances of small aircraft flying into buildings - it had even happened in Tucson.
I thought that was what she was talking about.

When I began to comprehend a little more of what she was saying - I presumed it was an accident of some sort. I still had no idea of the scope of what was happening.
She definitely wasn't coming for coffee and I definitely felt the need to head for home; calling my husband on the way.
My call woke him and he turned on the TV at my urging.

When I got home, he gave me a little more info...and we watched in disbelief as the towers burned and then collapsed. They collapsed. Imploded. That possibility never occurred to us as we watched the news reports. The cloud of debris looked like a pyroclastic flow rolling through the city.
It was like watching a movie - but with the certain knowledge that it was truly happening...and right then. And that knowledge included the comprehension that people's lives had ended - there - as I stared at a TV screen here.

The memories continue to surface as I see the a variety of television shows and specials reviewing the timeline of that day a decade ago.

My best friend was nearly deployed as medical/psych support. She stayed here as part of our local emergency services to keep watch over us. However, some of her friends and colleagues travelled across the country to help at Ground Zero.

We "civilian"-types, sent funds, stuffed animals, supplies, and wishes and prayers. Anything we could think of to "help".

I don't believe I'd learned how to knit yet, back in 2001.
I didn't listen to podcasts or read blogs.
I didn't know Heather Ordover then - but now I think of her on this day. She was teaching school in New York City on September 11th. She's an amazing soul. Her 9/11 story is here.

The scope of what happened is still mind boggling.

I would like to ask...
To anyone who was around in December, 1941: Did 9/11 bring back memories and feelings of Pearl Harbor?
And...
Where were you the morning of September 11, 2001?

I'm alive, I'm alive...really...

2011-08-21T14:07:00.002-07:00

Hola! Just checking in.
I am alive and I do have SS11 blogs started but I got seriously distracted by...uh...well, life.

After the Sock Summit, I had to hit the ground running for work due to bonus industry-wide changes that have come into play as well as the necessary pre-prep for the normal Bi-annual industry changes that are coming up in a couple of months.
Add to the above some minor medical adventures and the blog sits idle - but not forgotten!
(My medical adventures are certainly nothing on the scale of what Martha and her husband are dealing with! How did the bone scan go? Wishing you both healing and strength!! Blessings Be!)
I am considered to be ok physically for now, but I am dealing with some unexpected fatigue and there are things to ponder and pursue.

It'll all work out. It usually does - maybe not the way I'd like, but it'll work out.
There is more for me to learn here.

The cats are charming, surprising and, as usual, easily the most entertaining thing in my life.

Mikale & Nikoli

More appreciated entertainment: PodCasts have been a near-constant companion. My thanks to all the podcasters out there that share bits of their lives, knitting adventures, their creativity, education, humor, and personality with us! Most especially of late:

Congratulations and blessings to Jasmine and Gigi of the Knitmore Girls and their expanding family! Enjoy your summer hiatus and thank you very much for podcasting! Jasmine, please consider that sometimes our creative "Mojo" is diverted from our knitting to other important tasks. "Nesting" comes in many forms. ;-)
Thank you for the giggles shared and inspired by Rick and Carin of the KintWits Podcast. 'Tis appreciated, especially now. (I got to meet the lovely Carin at the Sock Summit!)
Strength and ongoing well-wishes are offered to David Reidy and his Mum. Mr. Reidy (of the Sticks and String Podcast) is also on podcast hiatus to be able to focus more on caring for his Mum and her current health challenges.
Paula of Knitting Pipeline has been keeping me company as well. (Thank you again!)
I'm also back the fascinating History of Rome, listening to the early episodes. I recently laughed out loud to hear about a Roman Consul (Publius Claudius Pulcher) seeking the auspices of "The Sacred Chickens" before a battle. When the chickens didn't eat the feed offered to them to assure a favorable outcome for the plan to destroy the Carthaginian navy, he had them tossed overboard, citing "If they're not hungry, maybe they're thirsty." (Yep, the attack went "poorly" to say the least!).

I have been getting some knitting done amidst the long hours at work. Here's a finished pair of socks for a friend in the White Mtns. About 6 months back, she loaned a car to a friend of mine (My ride to the crafting retreat) so we could drive back to Tucson after the serpentine belt in my friend's car let loose inside (broke) the engine. She's a lovely person and it shouldn't surprise me at all she would lend us her car. I wanted to show her my appreciation for the rescue so a pair of socks, in the yarn of her choosing, have been knit and are ready to ship this week.

Yep, my foot, her socks...I'm pretty sure these will fit her much better!

For "just checking in", I've been typing for quite a while. (I have to admit, I do "blather" well!)
I need to get back to Laundry and other weekend to-do's - and back to SS11 blogging.
Please bear with me..."Life Happens".

Sock Summit 2011 (SS11) - Where to start?

2011-08-07T16:29:00.021-07:00

I've been thinking about this most of the week.
So much to say. So many pictures to go through! (I took nearly 400 pictures! Woof! Oh - and I still need to take pictures of yarn and take-home goodies! I guess I'll be reviewing nearly 500 pictures. Hmmmm.)

And I keep thinking of things that I forgot to take pictures of - before the moment passed, before I ate it, before I gave it away...and alllllll the names and faces of the amazing folks I met that I didn't jot down or record with a photo. (Huge, smack-my-forehead SIGH).

But there is still a lot to show-n-tell about.

So...starting at the beginning of my Sock Summit 2011 trip...
Don't panic - I'm going to skip the plane stuff. It was a normal-ish trip in my limited experience and I've nothing of specific interest to record.

Oh - wait, I lied. I did have some pictures from the plane:

Mountains - greeeeen!

Startling Blue Sky & Clouds (I loved the texture and shades of white, gray, lavender...)

No - not a Sock Summit "Twilight Zone" moment about something out on the wing...

My first completed pair of baby booties.

I finished the first bootie and knit the 2nd one on the way to Portland. I wanted to knit something in honor of Rav-baby "Eloise" as suggested by the Sock Summit organizers. Since Eloise is most likely well stocked in knitted items, they suggested we knit/shop for Snowcap ("a Portland charity that provides food, clothing and advocacy to those who need it").

I'd been semi-living at work the weeks before the Sock Summit so having realized I was not going to be knitting the baby sweater I'd planned, I'd gone shopping for baby onesies and children's underwear to donate to Snowcap.
I also pulled out a languishing WIP (Work-in-progress) and plotted to finish these booties to donate in Eloise's name.

Oh - and this was too lovely not to snap a picture: Crater Lake.

Ok, off the plane and onto Portland, Oregon -
I did get to semi-meet some spiffy folks on the MAX train ride to the Convention Center. They had cards! Similar to Business Cards - more like calling cards of old. That was the new-to-me thing that many folks brought to the Summit. (Sure beats spelling K-I-N-I-A...25 times a day!)

All 3 ladies were very nice (especially about my tipping-over suitcase) and 2 gave me their cards.
Confession...the 3rd lady may have also given me a card, but I did a poor job keeping them organized and worse still, matching faces to cards. {sigh}. More-over, I didn't ask if I could feature them in the blog so here's some general references:
I believe one woman may have been the dyer of Three Fates Yarn (spiffy stuff) and another was a teacher at the Sock Summit with a familiar knitterly name! I earned a temporary nick-name of "Rav-girl"with said spiffy teacher/designer that I carried through the week with a slightly tickled grin.

That was one of the neat things about the Sock Summit - you'd meet someone and then meet them again and again throughout the event.

We travelled to the Oregon Convention Center and split up for our various hostelries.
It turned out that my assigned room at the Inn at the Convention Center was still occupied (no, it was past check-out/in time). I was temporarily shifted to a non-smoking "Handicapped" (??) room - but when I found cigarette butts decorating the mini-balcony, I asked to be moved. I ended up in a room that met the some-where-to-sleep criteria and I stayed for the duration. The stay was a bit of an adventure and I'll leave it at that. I will say that nearly everyone I met working at the hotel was very nice and I slept well.

It was Tuesday afternoon and I had plotted a trip downtown to a Yarn Shop, a Chocolate shop, Powells, and the Museum of Contemporary Craft.

As promised, I'm going to split the SS11 adventures into smaller blogs to avoid wearing out the reader - and the blogger.

Join me next blog for Weaving Art, Lost-in-Powells, Missed Yarn, and the very best Chocolate I have had in my entire life.

Where did July Go?

2011-08-02T18:23:00.001-07:00

Greetings! My apologies for posting nearly a month ago and then essentially disappearing.
I thought of the blog often enough, but I didn't translate those thoughts into typing and blogging.
Why didn't I? Because I was engrossed with several projects. (i.e. obsessed)

A huge project came into being at work - with a deadline that coincided with my being out of town. So - I had to design, setup and test my portion of this project and turn it over to our stellar Quality Assurance department for testing and implementation more than a week before the project was due. I took this task a little too seriously and spent a great deal of time at work. (Yep, fell off the work-a-holic wagon again...)

In my not very spare time, I was living on the internet - trying to plot my Portland explorations around my Sock Summit classes and events. The Sock Summit Raverly discussion group was a huge boon to this research and plotting (I seemed to have plotted a lot of restaurants to visit...). The Portland natives' suggestions on what to visit and where to eat was invaluable. Several people also organized events around the Sock Summit that were definitely intriguing.

And as my life was consumed with these projects, my body made it's preferences known (loudly) and I attempted to get some exercise and sleep between work and SS11 plotting. (I wasn't particularly successful at these endeavors.)

Deep Breath/Sigh. {wry grin}

Thusly I disappeared for a bit, blog-wise. Now I'm "back" and I have a lot to blog about...a lot of pictures of events, food (YUM!), amazing craftsmanship (no, not mine), and new-to-me LYS pictures. As usual, I always have silly observations to post but there are also some Sock Summit Stories to tell.
(I think I managed to not entirely embarrass myself this time at the Sock Summit when faced with Knitterati. {whew!})

But it's going to take me a bit to go through all the pictures and plot the blog posts.
I will make an effort to post smaller chapters rather than "War and Peace" blogs.
And I will fulfill my promise to include the progress of my own crafting exploits of late.

Please bear with me. There is more to come.
Blessings Be.

3 Years already?

2011-07-06T22:56:00.069-07:00

Blogiversary #3. Here we are.

So what is this blog for?
Electronic scrap booking? Editorials? Diary entries?
When I look back over the blogs of the last year, there seems to be a little of each represented.

Scrap booking? The cats are the main thing to scrapbook about. Cheap entertainment, the lot of them.
I guess I "scrapbook" about my crafting too...representing the name of my blog a bit.

Gryphon's penchant for Netflix Envelopes continues. We hide them when they arrive in the mail, but he's still tries to pick them up and run off with them if he gets the chance.

All 4 monster-cats are still ornery but doing well and getting along quite nicely as opposed to the bouts of cat-hysteria during the introductory phase. There is still the occasional skirmish but it's half-hearted and mostly posturing.
Personally, I'm slowly relaxing into having "young" cats - not having to care-take for ailing senior-citizen cats as I had for nearly the last decade.

Last July found a variety of critters in our house - not the usual furry types either. (It's getting back to that time of year again. The cats are having a grand time finding the flying ants and tiny beetles I seem to be walking in on my person at night.)

I introduced the blog to my office cat, Oscar, and have been keeping folks up to date on Oscar's seasonal outfit changes.

Craft-wise, I accomplished a fair bit. I did a little quilting, some charity knitting, and...uh...well, jeez.... Crimony! I have definitely not been keeping the blog current on my crafting escapades. I'll try to do better in Blog Year 4!

Editorials? I'm a little light on this subject, but I did voice my opinions about the world at large regarding the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear", Giving Thanks and what we take for granted, and consideration of and support for the "It Gets Better Project".

Diary Entries? I view that as more of the personal side of my world. Guess I'm a bit light on that area as well. Seems a bit odd to be kind of a "private" person whilst blogging, huh?
I did consider the gift of a quilt from my Mom from almost 30 years ago.
I blogged about shopping for carpet (cat-assisted) and the return of the carpet.
Ah - and I posted about some shows I got to attend; Savion Glover and Brian Stokes Mitchell, as well as the Tucson Handweavers and Spinners Guild Fashion Show.
Then there was the tire and frozen pipes adventures, WWKIP Day, and the Wednesday of the Godzilla outing/Quail rescue/Yarn Blessing.
And I finally finished documenting my trip to the 2009 Sock Summit.

Resolutions too.
In July 2010, I had made of list of Blogiversary resolutions for Year 3.
How did I do on my Blogiversary Resolutions? Not too badly.
Not a 100% success rate, but not too badly.

~ Blog More. Post more Pictures.

I did blog more this year than the previous year.

~ Catch up on my favorite blogs.

~ Explore new blogs!

I caught up and stayed caught up on many of my favorite blogs.

I'm still behind on several. (Knitting to Stay Sane, Yarn Harlot, etc.)

However, I did start following some new blogs this year.

(Better Than Yarn, Disco Knitter, & Pom Pom)

I have also gotten a little braver about posting comments on

the blogs I follow.

(There are probably a few folks around the world wondering

"Who is this KiniaCat person??" {I wonder sometimes too.})

~ Knit a real sweater!

I have 3 "real" sweaters on the needles. Well, 1 real sweater

(February Lady Sweater) and 1 coat (Einstein Coat - the furthest

along), and a well, a lacy shirt-like cardigan (Sabine).

(Yes, I owe you-all pictures/updates!)

~ Laugh More.!

The monster-cats offer daily silliness that inspires laughter.

The recent addition of "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" to the podcast

roll has also inspired a lot of laughter - and some perplexed looks.

I left work the other week listening to WWDTM as I walked to

the car, chortling and making comments to the podcast - as a car

full of people looked on bemusedly.

~ Love more. Love myself more too.

I actually think I'm doing a better job at this. It's hard to explain.

Some of it was accepting that I may have regard/respect for

people and family that don't have similar regard/respect for me.

Letting go of a reciprocal expectation seems to have eased some

of the feelings of inadequacy.

Makes for a lighter and more open heart, I think.

Long blog. No pictures.
Seems like and Editorial Blog today, don't you think?

My New Favorite Things

2011-06-26T23:10:00.006-07:00

I have to show you a couple o'things that are enhancing my life of late...

New Fav #1
I'm slowly working my way through the many, many podcasts I've queued up in iTunes. I use the Knitmore Girls suggestion of listening to 3 episodes to give a podcast a fair shake to decide if I will continue to listen. If I like the 3-fer, I go back and start listening from the beginning.
Can't help myself. It could be I go back to the beginning so that I'll know/understand the older references but I truly suspect it has to do with not wanting to miss anything.
Especially if the podcast is that good.

Anyway...the latest podcast that has entirely charmed me is NPR's Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!.
I find it to be clever, funny, and very interesting.

Their Website banner reads "The Oddly Informative News Quiz Show" and describes the show thusly:
"Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is NPR's weekly hour-long quiz program. Each week on the radio you can test your knowledge against some of the best and brightest in the news and entertainment world while figuring out what's real news and what's made up."
I find these descriptions do not do the show justice. I am guaranteed to learn something about current events and spend a bit of time (and breath) chortling or even laughing out loud as I listen to each episode.

Peter Sagal hosts the show, which features 3 panelists that participate in a variety of news quizzes - usually to benefit a call-in listener. The listener is attempting to win a coveted prize - a message on their voice-mail/answering machine by Carl Kasell, official judge and scorekeeper.

A celebrity guest will also play the "Not My Job" game where they're asked to answer questions about a topic that is likely not their bailiwick.
(Examples: Ru Paul & Drag (car) Racing, Hollywood Stuntman Hal Needham & Famous Weddings, and Bill Clinton & My Little Pony)

The writing for the show is impressive, as are the host/judge and panelists. They display stellar, witty, quick minds, a significant knowledge of current events, and they poke fun at themselves, the news, and the human condition.
I equate it to one of my favorite sayings: "Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves - for we shall never cease to be amused".

"Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" is definitely worth a weekly listen!
(Which reminds me - I need to go donate to NPR. I donate regularly to PBS, but I seem to have been neglecting NPR. I'm off to go fix that...)

New Fav #2
My other new favorite thing is thanks to Jarod Flood of the Brooklyn Tweed blog. (Thank you, Sir!!)
I was catching up on his blog a couple of weeks ago and he mentioned a new book from Elizabeth Zimmerman. I have a few EZ books and the Knitting Workshop DVD. Based on those experiences, I immediately travelled to the Schoolhouse Press Website to go have a look.

"Knit One Knit All" was a book EZ had planned to publish in the 70's but the publishers she approached didn't think a book focusing on one knit stitch (Garter) would go over well.
(Hrumph. The numerous and successful one-stitch books published since then tell the tale yet again that EZ was a woman ahead of her time.)

My copy of this spiffy book arrived quickly and the top of the book shows some evidence of my delight:

The following are comments from the thank you note I sent to the amazing folks at Schoolhouse Press.

"I have to say - I am entirely smitten with your new book, "Knit One Knit All".

The top edge of the book bears the evidence of my appreciation via the numerous wish-to-knit page markers I applied to all the patterns that immediately struck my fancy.

I am especially enamored of the "Waistcoat Vest", the "Striped Blouse", and the "Long Collared Jacket". And the "Zig-Zag Jacket", both "Brimmed Hat"s, the "New Zealand Sweater", and the "Icelandic Overblouse"...I'm going to stop now because I could easily list the majority of the patterns in the book. {wry grin}

Moreover, I love the comments, drawings and art you included from Elizabeth Zimmerman.

Thank you for doing this. I know that my appreciation for this book cannot only belong to Elizabeth Zimmerman. I can only imagine the "village" that knitted this lovely book together.

Kudos to you all. "

"Knit One Knit All" is a gift to the Knitting Community.

And perhaps a labor of love.

New Fav #3
Lastly, another installation of an on-going favorite thing: another "Simon's Cat" offering: "Hidden Treasure".
(And here goes my first attempt at embedding a video...if it works, thanks go to Blogger, 'cause they did all the work.)

Tucson World Wide Knit in Public Day (WWKIP) 2011

2011-06-12T22:50:00.009-07:00

My very first WWKIP day - in 2009 - was interesting, fun, and had multiple locations and minimalist attendance (4).

Our 2010 WWKIP day had one location (Beyond Bread), Lots of attendees, and was much more fun! I believe we had close to 30 knitters, crocheters and spinners demonstrating craftiness in public last June. Humble apologies...I have no pictures. However, we had a grand time, the food was good, the seating was a little crowded (we took up most of the East half of the restaurant), and it was all sorts of interesting. So much to see. So many projects, so many people to talk to...although I was actually being a tad bashful so I didn't speak with everyone.

This year, Linda, our WWKIP day organizer, contacted the Murphy-Wilmot Tucson Public Library regarding having our WWKIP day gathering there. They were fine with our adventure occurring in their new library cafe!
(Ok, "cafe" in this instance = tables, chairs & vending machines.)
They gave us permission to bring our own goodies so I baked "Hawaiian" Shortbread (fancy name, plain, yummy shortbread cookie) and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. Linda brought a mondo bag of Hershey's miniatures (excellent rip-pit rewards) and coffee! (Thank you, I needed that!)

I have cheesy photos from my phone to document our public crafting. (If I mis-name/mis-spell/mis-describe anyone, pretty please pipe up and correct me!)

On Saturday, June 11th, we claimed one of the wavy benches and some tables in the library cafe and we were joined by some known-to-me crafters and several brand new-to-me ones. We did not have LOTS of attendees, but I would say we did "Quality" over "Quantity". ;-)

I believe Linda brought especially crocheting to work on this day - a shawl in progress.
Debbie was the first to join us - wearing a crochet flowering-vine "scarf" and a hat that we thought was quite spiffy (hey, wait - did she crochet that hat too?!?). (Pictures are post-Debbie so you won't find Debbie or the hat in the pics below.)

Audrie drove from the other side of town to join us and work on a lovely kimono cardigan based on the colors/shading of Monet's Lily Pond. Diane came with two stunning bags (one knit, one sewn) that we ooh'd & aah'd over as well as some very nice stash yarn for adoption. Diane also came prepared to teach! Dena spontaneously joined us as her family explored the library and Diane gave her a knitting refresher and some stash to keep her going. (You should have seen Dena's face light up...well, you would have if I'd taken better pics...)

Emma, a very adept crocheter (whose way with words I greatly admire) is very successfully exploring sock knitting!
Jennifer turned up with some knitting AND crochet AND an absolutely Excellent WIP - 11 week old Benton. She is entirely smitten with him, and I can't blame her. He was VERY well behaved, charming, and even though he's pretty well smitten with his Mom, he gifted us with smiles too.

Benton was aptly dressed for our gathering:

We munched on the cookies. I broke into the chocolate first since I earned it doing some tinking (tink = knit spelled backwards. i.e. "un-knitting"). Other folks earned chocolate too although I ended up "earning" enough for everyone. (Oddly enough, the lace-knitting went fine for me. It was the simple sock that was earning me chocolate that day.)

Benton had other refreshments...

Linda pulled a few knitting books from the library stacks for inspiration and general perusal (I'm inspired to see if I can track down two for my personal library.).

Becky from Grandma's Spinning Wheel stopped by for just a little bit. (Thanks again to the GSW folks for mentioning our WWKIP Event on their website!) Debbie and Diane had to leave after a few hours, but we were joined by Valerie, another extremely talented crocheter. She was even wearing a lovely, lacy, lavender example of her crochet talents! (Uh, no, I don't have a picture of Valerie...sorry/sigh).

(Ever notice how studiously we knit when there is a camera out?) ;-)

Various library patrons stopped by to ask about our projects and when and where we meet and...you guessed it - whether we were knitting or crocheting. The head librarian also stopped by to check on us and she seemed pointedly tickled that we were there.
We stayed for about 5 hours and then a few of us adjourned to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant for a late lunch. Even fewer of us traveled over to Grandma's Spinning Wheel to craft there for a few hours.

It was a bit of a long day, but it was inspiring and fun and I got to spend it with all sorts of lovely people - some new to me and some that I got to know a bit better.
Grateful thanks to Linda for organizing our WWKIP Day event again!

Godzilla!, Tiny Wildlife Rescue, and Australian Treasure!

2011-06-01T22:05:00.002-07:00

Last Week I experienced a particularly nifty day...

Godzilla!

After work, I'd met some friends at the Loft Theater to watch the last movie in the "Cinema Atomico - The Cold War Goes to the Movies" series sponsored by the Titan Missile Museum.
We saw the original Japanese version of "Godzilla" from 1954.
(In Japanese with subtitles in case you were curious.)

Yes, I am that geeky. However, I'm way less geeky than some of my friends - such as the clever gent who was offering excellent Godzilla movie trivia!

The man that throws the switch when they try to electrocute Godzilla was the Director of the movie (appearing in the movie a la Hitchcock). (OK - I only saw an arm throwing the switch not a whole man.).
The Godzilla cry/sound was made by rubbing a rubber glove across a cello (Think about it! That's exactly what it sounds like, isn't it?).
There was more, but I did a poor job storing them in my brain.

The Loft Art Director did an excellent intro; very funny, informative and charming. They drew some names for Raffle prizes - including a Geiger Counter and an overnight stay at the Titan Missile Museum (Do you see the Cinema Atomico correllation?).

The Loft also presented a short "educational" film before they started Godzilla.
It's called "The House in the Middle" - produced by the "National Clean up - Paint Up - Fix Up Bureau"in 1954.
No, I'm not kidding.
If you've got 12 minutes - go take a look at this, uh, innocent time capsule of 1950's American Nuclear Perspective.
(I have to repeat one audience comment offered during this movie short: "Lead Paint". Go. Watch. You'll understand when you see it....)

I couldn't remember having seen the original Godzilla when I was a kid. Odds are I did 'cause my little brother was a serious Godzilla fan. (No, we were not around for the original movie release...)
I knit on 3 projects during the movie.
I have to confess, I knit on so many 'cause I had technical difficulties on two that required sight to repair/correct - but I did make some good headway on all three! (2 pairs of socks and a lace shawl.)

Tiny Wildlife Rescue!
I came home to find a very tiny Gambel's Quail chick in my car port.
It was a little late for quail to be out foraging and becoming separated from one of their little ones (they roost at night) so I called the local Vet (Valley Animal Hospital) that works with Forever Wild Animal Rehab Center and they said to bring him on over.
(I have to note that Valley Animal is not my regular Vet, but they have always been very kind and supportive when I turn up with Wildlife-needing-assistance. It happened more often when BobCat was still alive and, uh, patrolling the neighborhood - but that's another blog).

I cropped down a box from the recycle bin, tossed some tissues in the box, put on my work gloves, and went to collect the wee one. Oddly enough, when I came out to collect him, he started for me almost immediately and then he trundled right to my gloved hands. (I had to wonder if my shoes somehow resemble parent-quail).

(it's only about 2 inches or 5.08 cm)

I checked around for parents/siblings but none could be seen or heard so I drove the chirping little one to the Vet. They said Forever Wild would pick him up in the morning. (I also dropped off a donation to Forever Wild since I was especially adding to their workload.) I understand the rehab folks will raise him to be released back into the wild.

Australian Treasure!
(Also a "Blogs to Explore" review...)
And then I came back home and found spiffy things from England and Australia in the mail!

Via Ravelry I wandered over to the blog of Pom Pom in early February. She's an English lady living in Australia. She has organized the World Wide Knit in Public (WWKIP) day in Sydney for the past couple of years (A Much larger event then our improving WWKIP Day attempts here in Tucson) and her voice is somewhat familiar to me from the Sticks and String podcast Easter Show reviews. I enjoy her blog observations and humor. I am curious but rather ignorant about her comments regarding Australian politics - but I find them educational and interesting. (Not unlike when the Yarn Harlot comments on Canadian Politics.)
I became intrigued by her blog and continued to visit.
And I began to submit tentative comments on occasion.
Although Blogs are generally "out there for all to see", I do sometimes feel as though I've wandered into a private forum; as though I'm reading someone's diary.
However, Pom Pom was particularly kind and welcoming of my stray comments and questions.

As it turns out, she blogs every day for her Blogiversary month of March. So, there were more blog entries to visit and I continued to occasionally leave comments.

Pom Pom was able to blog every day but one in March. An illness and death in her family drew her back to England on short notice.
I was not alone in leaving notes of sympathy, concern, and support on her blog.

Another tradition of Pom Pom's Blogiversary Month is to use a random number generator (family member) to pick two numbers that would correlate to two comments left on the blog during the month. One Australian commenter and a commenter from somewhere else in the world are gifted with a prize.

The random number generator happened to pick one of my comments and I received Treasure from Australia in my mailbox:

This lovely yarn, Scrumptious Lace by Fyberspates, is very tactile and lustrous - and, as noted by a friend of mine, is the colour and sheen of a deep red rose. Pom Pom indicated that she'd chosen it for me when she was in England.
She also enclosed a note on a spiffy Sydney Postcard and my "bag-lady" heart sang when I realized she'd also gifted me with a bag from the 2010 Sydney World Wide Knit in Public Event.

What an amazing day!
A ginormous Japanese Radioactive Lizard, a tiny/helpless Arizona Quail chick, and English/Australian yarn-y blessings.

Treasures from 'round the world.

Actually, I have not been overloading on cute

2011-05-21T08:30:00.001-07:00

I admit it, I like to treat myself to a CuteOverload update when I get online...

Recently, these videos have been inspiring re-visits, a lot of grins, and some serious giggles...even a few tears when I laughed just enough. Enjoy!

The Owl and the PussyCat

An excellent example of owner-training

The Orb of Madness!
(I especially like the excellent "soundtrack" matched to this one!)

Back to the Days of Yore - Sock Summit 2009

2011-05-05T23:30:00.011-07:00

And now for the Rest of the SS09 Story.

August 2009 was a wondrous but emotional month for me.
I got to attend my first major knitterly event: The Sock Summit in Portland, Oregon.
I spent a lovely, relaxing weekend at a crafting retreat in the White Mountains of Arizona with some friends.
And I was shocked and grieved to find my sister-in-law had been much sicker than they had let on and she left this realm just a few days later.

If you visit this blog somewhat often, you may have noted that I didn't blog for several months. Life was a bit overwhelming for me. It has returned to some semblance of normalcy but reality has shifted a bit.

Anyway - I had intended to finish the Sock Summit blogs I started in 2009. Much of it was generally written but I needed to go through pictures and just do the deed.
Heartened by the recent Sock Summit 2009 podcasts that the Knitmore Girls released over the last few months (i.e. "Look - I'm not alone in my backlog!"), I decided to stop practicing my procrastination talents and finish up the August 2009 blogs.

I've back-posted them for the sake of time-line, but I'm confessing here and on those belated blogs about the true reality of when I pulled out the 'Round-To-it and finished up the blogging.

Yes, this is a real wooden Round "Tuit".

Hence, I have absolutely no excuse for not doing something until I get Around to it - 'cause I already have a Round "Tuit".

So - the shortcuts.
For the 2009 Sock Summit adventure:

"I've got a Golden Ticket" - created and posted July 25, 2009
"Sock Summit 2009 - Part 1 - Getting to Oregon" - created and posted August 12, 2009
"Sock Summit 2009 - Part 2 - Classes, Marketplace, & Opening Ceremonies" - created and posted September 11, 2011
"Sock Summit 2009 - Part 2.5 - Marketplace Acquisitions" - created 9/5/2009 - finished and posted April 23, 2011
"Sock Summit 2009 - Part 3 - Breaking a World Record" - created 8/12/2009 - finished and posted April 24, 2011.
"Sock Summit 2009 - Part 4 of 4 - Barbara Walker, Voodoo Donuts, and Home" - created 8/12/2009 - finished and posted May 5, 2011.

The Show Low retreats will be documented in a separate "Back to the Days of Yore" blog.

Oscar and the Easter Menagerie

2011-04-23T15:05:00.004-07:00

Oscar the office cat, has an official Easter Outfit, as you see below.

One of my co-workers has been gifting me with Easter critters for a few years and they keep Oscar company atop the big filing cabinet behind my cube. Sadly, they do not have names.
I believe the first one she gave me was the Easter Chick dressed as a rabbit (note the floppy ears) and bunny slippers. The green/yellow bunnies and the springtime chick followed.
I recently added the wooly friend to the menagerie. Perhaps we'll name him "Simon"?

This morning, my best friend and the DH and I attempted to try Creme Brulee French Toast for breakfast before the DH had to go to work. However, we were foiled by the Restaurant in Copper Country Antiques opening at 11. {rats - we'll try another day...)
But I did snap a picture of "Fred" the buffalo atop the store in his official Easter Outfit and colors:

As I recall, the owners of the shop have a small herd of buffalo. "Fred" gets painted and decorated to celebrate various holidays. The Bunny-ears over his horns and Buck-teeth affixed to his muzzle had us giggling and taking pictures like tourists.

Bonus! Just in time for Easter, a new Simon's Cat entry: Hop It.
Hoppy Easter to you all!

De-stashing with a Charitable twist

2011-04-17T16:11:00.005-07:00

Ok, not a lot of de-stashing occurring - just a couple o'skeins. But every little bit helps and these skeins had greater effect as they left my hands.

A la "Ma Cobb", I knit two more Jayne hats to donate to our local Arizona Browncoats group. They picked them up last week for their table at the Phoenix Comic Con next month. I'm awaiting word on the final plan for the hats, be it raffle, display, or auction.

A VERY belated update on the fate of the Entrelac Scarf I donated to the Academy for Cancer Wellness Confetti Gala last October.

I heard that the Entrelac Scarf I donated was sold at the silent auction for $65.00! However, the most gratifying part is: the woman who bought it - pulled it out of the bag after paying for it and ***put it on*** right then and there! She stated she loved the colors in the scarf and she wore it home! That is an amazing compliment and I am ever so pleased!!

Destashing with the help of Ravelry:

In January, I had been pondering a random skein of purply-pink Filatura Di Crosa Centolavaggi lace weight yarn in my stash. Frankly, I was wondering what I would do with it. The pink aspect of the yarn seemed much more prominent to me than it had when I purchased it.

Oddly enough, a few weeks later, I was contacted on Raverly by a young lady who had found the yarn posted in my Raverly stash. She was in need of that particular shade of lace yarn to knit a shawl for a friend's wedding. A friend who's wedding colors were that exact shade of purply-pink.
In trade, she offered me a lovely royal purple shade of the same lace yarn that suits my color preferences much better!

About the same time, I was again found on Raverly by someone who also needed some random yarn.
I'd picked up a ball of Blue Crystal Palace Yarns Puffin Print for a baby project that did not come to fruition.

However, a woman on Raverly needed one ball to finish a Blanket Buddie for a friend who was having her first baby. She offered to pay for the yarn and shipping, but I had a stray thought and asked that she consider donating $10.00 to $15.00 to Knitters/Doctors without Borders. She had never heard of Doctors Without Borders or what they do. And - she indicated she thought the donation idea was a good one and would follow through with payment to the charity!

It would appear that sometimes I might "randomly" buy yarn for a purpose...someone else's purpose, perhaps?

Found some old Gryphon "baby" pictures

2011-04-08T23:19:00.003-07:00

Back in 2009, we inherited Gryphon as a 5 week old kitten who, even then, was rambunctious, energetic, mischievous, and charming. As soon as he was allowed loose in the house, CooPurr pretty quickly became one of Gryphon's favorite toys.
CooPurr's old escape technique from non-stop kitten attention isn't as successful as it once was.

Today, I tripped over some "baby" pictures showing our gentle silver-gray giant, CooPurr, giving the little near 3-month old Gryphon a bath and I thought I would share:

"Hold Still..."

"Now the other paw..."

"Gotta wash your neck..."

(Awwwww.)

"Missed a spot..."

"Almost done..."

They looked adorably sweet, didn't they?
(Trust me, they were just recharging...)

What the Heck?!?!? But kinda cool...

2011-03-27T23:35:00.007-07:00

The blog I'd intended to post tonight has been preempted due to the radical jump in the number of blog visitors today.

Y'all blew my mind.

I checked...it's not a "Blog of Note" rush...but you did make me wonder. I can only see that Ravelry is the source of the visitations and folks appear to be curious about the Tucson Handweaver's and Spinner's Guild Fashion Show blog...but I have no idea exactly why. **

I am constantly delighted and agog that people from around

the world can (and sometimes do) visit my blog.

I know that I am tickled and curious and a bit amazed that I am able to visit blogs written by folks in other countries.

I wonder if I leave a comment if I'll be using unknown lingo or that something I type may mean something entirely different (and rude) in that country.

Sometimes I'm soothed by the similarities of humor, concern, values, delight in a child, nature, or art-craft. Sometimes these "foreign" bloggers make me pause and reconsider something in my country because of how they see it from their perspective. Sometimes I learn about their culture, language, crafting, loves, politics, fears, or heartache. Sometimes I do feel like a reading voyeur - as though I'm reading someone's diary. But I have been moved to leave messages of heartfelt sympathy, having been overwhelmed by someone's challenges or pain. I have offered praise and encouragement to people I literally don't know.
But they have moved me - to tears, to laughter, to connect - to type.

So...let me just offer a "Greetings! How you be?" to the variety of visitors from Canada, the United Kingdom, and 28 of the United States of America that stopped by my blog over the weekend.

I hope your curiosity was sated...or peaked. {wry grin}

Blessings Be. Sincerely, KiniaCat

**(Edited to add - "Eureka!! I figured out the pictures of the lovely KLC Woods Yarn Bowl I purchased at the THSG Fashion Show were linked into a Ravelry discussion on Yarn Bowls!)
(Bonus - I was listening to podcasts over the weekend between wading through Tax-Receipts (ugh) and Jasmine of the Knitmore Girls Podcast mentioned she was also very tickled with the KLC Woods craftsmanship she'd seen at Stitches West a few weeks ago. Ken of KLC had mentioned he'd just come from Stitches West. I don't spin, but his drop spindles were pretty spiffy...
Tucson - there's only 2 degrees of separation here. But that's fodder for another blog.)

Tucson Handweaver's and Spinner's Guild Fashion Show

2011-03-21T23:15:00.005-07:00

A week ago Saturday, I got to attend my first Tucson Handweaver's and Spinner's Guild Fashion Show and Tea!
It was inspiring, charming, amazing and great fun.

I have to confess that I don't have pictures of the Marketplace, the guild or study-group presentations, the nearly 30 raffle baskets, or the Fashion Show entries.
A professional photographer was taking pictures and the guild did ask that we not take pictures to post on the Internet. I'm waiting to see if the pictures will be available on the guild website.
A few are available here and here.

Craftlit's Heather Ordover was our stellar Fashion Show Commentator. It was very nice to see her again and she did an excellent job guiding the audience (and the models {wry grin}) through the fashion show.

The models and items-being-modeled were varied and graceful. From a Woven Vest to Appliqued Jackets to a fun and beautifully Embroidered Ski Jacket. There was a Felted Oceanic Hat & Scarf set, Handwoven Rugs, a rescued Leather Duster (ruined panels replaced with newly ?marble-dyed? leather), and a stunning one-shouldered Felted ?silk? Dress with a leaf motif wrap in off-white that was so lovely and obviously took a great deal of talent and skill to create.
A spinner with whom I am newly acquainted knit a Cardigan from hand-dyed wool that had been dyed with only black and Teal (at the same time). She knit it from side to side to show the gradations between the Teal shades to Black. Intriguing and beautiful!

Yes, I know pictures would help. My feeble explanations do not do the Wearable Art justice. Some pieces I can see in my mind's eye but I have no idea how to describe them. I know there are many more that I have not mentioned here. They were all amazing. Such design and crafting prowess!
{sigh} Hopefully the pictures will be available on the public side of the Guild website.

I do, however, have pictures of the treasure I collected at the Fashion Show.

I fell in love with this Yarn Bowl created by Ken Ledbetter of KCL Woods.

It's made of Mesquite Wood.

I love the turquoise fill...

(Gryphon, as usual, is on hand to "supervise".)

I also benefited from two of the guild fundraisers.

1.) Tea pots were donated from all over and guild members made Tea Cozies to sell with the tea pots to raise funds for the guild.

I purchased this lovely little individual Tea Pot and Cup paired with this whimsical Craft Mall Tea Cosy. I don't know who made the cozy, but they have a serious sewing machine, possibly some weaving skills, a clever mind, and very sharp scissors.
(Watch for the shop-cat!)

(Spinning Wheel in the right-hand side of the window.)

(Close-up on the baskets and woven cactus.)

I love the climbing roses...

(Did you notice that all the shops are having a sale?)

2.) The study groups and guild members donated alllll sorts of lovely things to put together 28 Raffle Baskets!

I got to help transport the baskets from the lobby into the event room. Some of them were quite heavy!

Our table at the tea won several of the Raffle Baskets (I think 6 in all). The woman behind me won Three. I think she felt a bit awkward winning so many, but she did confess that she had invested a significant amount in purchasing raffle tickets.

Me? I won the very last Raffle Basket of the day!
The Cookie Lover's Basket donated by the Amphitheater Bible Church and another guild member.
I didn't quite catch it, but I believe the announcer made some comment about my baking cookies for the guild...but I'm not quite sure when or how many I'm baking but I'm game! {wry grin}

(Yes, Gryphon tried to chew on the wrapping...)

Unwrapped...

4 Cookie Mixes

A lap quilt in a log cabin pattern lined the basket.
(Yes, Nikoli & Mikale are "helping" me take pictures.)

3 pot-holders and a notepad/pen.

(I should take a picture of the boxes after
cat paws went tromping through the basket later that night..)

The pot above is not for Tea - it is a Tea Pot Cookie Jar!
Shamefully, I have not yet baked cookies for this new Cookie jar, but tonight I did pick up some Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Snap Cookies (seriously - YUM) to go into this mondo cookie jar.

I had a all sorts of fun at the THSG Fashion Show and Tea. I can barely imagine all the organization and effort that went into making it such an excellent event.
Kudos and my thanks to the Tucson Handweaver's and Spinner's guild. Well done!

Oscar's Wear'n O'the Green...and Red, White, and Blue...

2011-03-17T22:55:00.003-07:00

When I introduced Oscar in December, I had indicated I'd present his outfits for each Holiday. However, I'm running behind on Oscar posts, so here's "CATch up" on Oscar's Holiday duds:

Valentine's Day:
(Next year's Valentine's outfit should be less cheesy-looking. I picked up another heart-tie option in the post Cupid-day sales...)

President's Day:
(Independence day outfit does partial double-duty. Ideas for mo'betta President's day gear, anyone?)

St. Patrick's Day:
I don't mind if Oscar or others wear green. Me? Don't need to.
As previously explained, I'm of Irish decent so I don't have to wear Green to be Irish on St. Paddy's.

(This outfit shows off Oscar's green eyes, don'tcha think?)

Hope you had a grand and lovely St. Paddy's!

The Shaking of the Earth and How We can help

2011-03-14T00:39:00.008-07:00

On a trip to California a few years ago, we experienced 2 earthquakes.
Once when we were driving and the car seemed to lurch forward oddly - we thought we were having engine troubles.

The 2nd earthquake that shook us was unnerving, to say the least.
We were awakened in the early morning hours by the rattling of the very heavy hotel room door as though it was a hollow door with someone large and angry trying to come in. My next realization was that the bed was shaking...and it shouldn't have been.
My reaction was to get up and put on my pants with the desperate intent to GET OUT. The shaking stopped before I got zipped up and my husband kept trying to tell me it was over and I didn't need to get dressed. I "explained" that I HAD to go outside...to be outside RIGHT NOW. (No, I do not suffer from claustrophobia.)
We heard later that we'd experienced a 5.9 earthquake. Pretty mild by most Californian's standards.
But that - and the aftershock that shook the truck later as I was loading it, was Way more than I wanted to go through ever again.
The shaking of the earth is not a casual thing.

The earthquake in Haiti last year and the recent earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan are beyond comprehension.
(The Boston Globe's "The Big Picture" covers the recent earth quake/tsunami with many photos that can only hint at the devistation. The video link I had here seems to have become inaccessible and I removed the link 3/15.)

Shortly after the news came in, the need to help in some way became overwhelming for me:
Red Cross support options to help Japan
Doctors without Borders is in Japan
World Care is collecting supplies and funds to help Japan (Supplies to be donated can be left at Local Walgreens Stores!)
Best Friends Animal Rescue Preparations
Americares
International Rescue Committee
Mercy Corps
Oxfam
Save the Children
World Vision
Actually, this blog seems to cover a lot of good options.

And in case you haven't already gone here:
Red Cross donations to help New Zealand
Ways to help Haiti
World Care Helping Haiti

Wherein the hairs on my neck are raised and I end up weeping

2011-03-05T22:37:00.007-07:00

If you're reading on looking for the soap opera..."nevermind".

I had a stellar evening. I went to probably one of the best performances I've ever experienced.

Brian Stokes Mitchell.

I'll attempt to make some comments without entirely gushing, but it is unlikely that I'll succeed.

He was amazing. (Happy sigh.)

Certain singers performing certain songs will give me "goose bumps" or raise the hairs on my neck. Tonight's performance did both and had me weeping twice (OK, three times. I was in good company - I shared tissues with the woman next to me...).

He has such a perfectly controlled, rich, graceful, deep, textured voice with such timbre and versatility that I can't even gush adequately.

Seriously - Happy sigh.

I've not seen a lot of his stage performances beyond PBS or the Tony Awards. But his voice - even not singing on the TV show "Frasier" as upstairs neighbor Cam Winston, is always a pleasure to hear.

({gush-alert...} He is also quite handsome with a lovely smile. )

I have his striking singing voice on some Broadway soundtracks, had seen the PBS Concert performance of "South Pacific" with Reba McEntire, and had easily recognized his voice in the "Prince of Egypt" Soundtrack performing "Through Heaven's Eyes".

Tonight - he demonstrated why he's been named "The Last Leading Man" by the New York Times.

I agree unquestionably.

He was charming and funny and kind and personable.

(I know, gushing... Ahem - sorry.)

He performed show tunes, jazz, and all manner of song in between.
He was accompanied by 4 equally-stellar musicians: Tedd Firth (piano), Gary Haase (bass), Buddy Williams (drums), Bob Shepard (woodwinds).

His voice, posture, expression, & tone all blended to enhance the performance and to draw us into the world he was painting for us.

He gifted us with "This Nearly was Mine" from South Pacific - "unplugged".

He put aside the microphone and demonstrated the acoustics in Centennial Hall - filling it with his voice.

What a treat!! And, yes, the UofA Theatre Majors in the back of the hall could hear him fine.

I'll avoid listing all the selections he performed. (Some were entirely new to me.)

I plan to track down more music featuring this amazing talent for my collection.

He closed with "Impossible Dream" from the Man of La Mancha - which also seems to be a good place for me to stop gushing.
Night, all.

Shiny Glass Treasure!

2011-02-26T23:18:00.004-07:00

The DH's latest hobby is scoping out antique stores. No, he hasn't been buying up "another man's treasure" to bring home...mostly he just looks.
I accompanied him on one sojourn the other week and I found treasure!

Glass Buttons.
I actually did not realize there was such a thing.
It made perfect sense when I thought about what would have pre-dated plastic, been used as an option for bone, and possibly outlasted wood or leather...well, if handled in a respectable manner (~~Washboard, Washing Machine, oops/fumble~~).
(3/16/2011 - edited to add...I experienced the oops/fumble test of these buttons (along with a mild heart attack) when I dropped the bag o'glass buttons yesterday. It made a solid glassy thunk on the tile floor {gasp} but they are all still intact. Lord knows why, but blessings be. {whew}.)

But I found several glass buttons and a grouping of metal buttons (plus a pewter clasp) that entranced me and they were gleefully purchased to come home with me. (Oddly enough, most of them seem to be priced on par with "modern" buttons.)
I'm not yet sure as to what knitting project (hmmm, jewelry?) they'll adorn, but I will ponder that carefully.
They are glass after all. The largest is 1 1/4". Most are 1 1/8" (2.8576 cm)
They are heavier and cool to the touch and they are...
* "Shiny" - please have a look!

These two match and are actually not opaque!

Every time I look at this one, it seems to come from a different era/part of the world.

I marvel at the detail & how it would have been created. (FYI - Metal shank on the back)

This one is easily my favorite and has a glass shank.

I love the detail on these smaller (1/2"?) buttons.

Based on what I'm seeing on the Internet, pewter clasps from Norway appear to be a somewhat common thing, even now.

But I did like the style of this, whether it be an antique or no.

"Norway" is imprinted on the back of this pewter clasp.

Having excitedly shown my new treasures to the DH, he gifted me with these; found on his visit to another Antique Mall a week later.
They're quite small (ranging 3/8"- 1/2" (1.27 cm?)) and all different, but basically similar.
The label on the card says "Victorian Black Glass". They have brass shanks.

(My favorite is probably the crescent moon with the sprig of leaves.)

(Same Card, just flipped for another view.)

Now...what to knit??
If I found a couple more of the larger ones, they could enhance the Einstein Coat. Hmmmm....

* "Shiny" references are further explained in this blog.

I am easily entertained

2011-02-21T08:52:00.004-07:00

~I am entertained by Teabag Wisdom:
Good Earth Green Tea (yum!) Teabag fob quote:

"Anything too stupid to be said is sung." Voltaire

~You know I'm entertained by kitties:

Slo-mo Kitty - I watched this a couple o'three times - laughing all the while.

~And this was a bit wicked on my part to find this so entertaining - considering these gents are just trying to make a living...

The DH and I went to meet a friend for breakfast and a walk last Saturday. She was having her car maintenanced at a dealership on our side of town and we went to pick her up there.

I couldn't help but find humor in the reactions we witnessed at the dealership. Several small groupings of Car Salesmen in front of the dealership office focused on our car and followed our progress across the lot with barely contained, commision-inspired attention. (And we were only driving a Buick!)

I called my friend in the Service Waiting Room to hurry out to meet us to alleviate the strain on the sales-gents.

I kept thinking of "Dug" from Disney's movie "UP" when he came to attention saying "Squirrel!"

No, you're in the right place...

2011-02-19T17:54:00.005-07:00

The Blog looks different, huh? What do you think?
I was cleaning up some odd font colorings and adding some charity links and I had a bit of a, well a redecorating fit.

I seriously delved into Blogger's new design options...fell in love with the blue fibre-felted background picture you now see on the blog...and then rebuilt the blog around it.
Blogger's design functionality helped a lot. (Although it didn't have a "apply default" button on some of the gadgets. Too bad - I had to shift the colors manually - and it's not the same color palate, durn it!)

So - can you guess what my favorite colour is?
I love the sparkly-lights picture I originally found for my Ravatar and I picked the original blog design to compliment those colors.

But they're not the colors that give me a happy-feet thrill. Blues and teal and purples - {happy sigh}. Then forest greens and reds and browns...well, I like most all colors. (Save for baby pink and sickly greens/yellows. {shudder}).

As you can see, I'm keeping the sparkly-lights picture for my Avatars.
But I'm pretty tickled with my new blog format and shading.

So...please bear with me as I tweak the blog in it's new format and my apologies for any older blog-posts that wigged out during the transition to my "blue phase".

This week's adventure - A Tire in Pieces

2011-02-19T11:54:00.001-07:00

Technically - this is Last Week's Adventure...I got distracted with this week's adventures and didn't finish the blog...

This week's repair adventure pertains to my well-loved and long-driven little 1990 pickup truck.
About a week ago, the DH suggested that we should look into replacing the 8-year old tires on my little truck.
I agreed wholeheartedly.

Yep, you can see what's coming.
On the way to work on Friday, as I moved into the left turn lane of a major intersection, the truck started shimmying significantly. I was able to carefully finish the left turn and pull into a parking lot.
The rear driver's-side tire was nigh unto shredded. {sigh}

I have to take responsibility for this. I'm an adult and capable of instigating maintenance on my own truck...but I had been lazy and had left all car-related efforts to the DH.
And he'd put a lot more thought into the tires than I certainly had.
This serves me right and I am pointedly glad no one was hurt.

I called the DH about his including a trip to the tire store in his errands for the day and I started pulling out the stuff to change the tire.

Yes, I know how to change a tire.
Before my Dad taught me how to drive, he taught me how to change a tire. It's not hard to do (providing the lug nuts can be loosened and the tire doesn't weigh half my body-weight). And it's definitely handy info to have.

So - I did the deed. It took me a couple of tries to find the only place the jack could be positioned so the truck was lifted high enough to remove the dead tire was - behind the tire on the axel casing.
(This information is also handily documented in the owner's manual {sigh/duh}.)

My hands, pants, and shoes were filthy from kneeling in parking lot dirt and handling tires. {sigh}
I looked like I'd already worked a full day's worth...at a garage. ;-)

A passing gentlemen (wearing nice western duds and spiffy red & black cowboy boots) had saved me from greasing-up my favorite hand-dyed turtleneck by crawling under the truck to get the winch for the spare inserted properly. His timing was excellent and greatly appreciated.

The DH turned up just in time to inflate the (of course) flat spare tire and put it on the truck.
He then followed me to work and then drove the little truck away on 3 old tires and an even older "donut" spare in search of replacement tires.

We did find that my little truck's age was a minor hinderance in obtaining tires...one place said they'd have to order tires that small. {hrrumph}
The DH joked that they only kept tires in stock for cars from this millienium.
However, he did get new tires for my truck and he changed the oil (only slightly overdue) over the weekend.

The recent streak of "adventures" does have me wondering what will happen next week. We're on kind of a roll. I'm praying for nothing eventful.
(Which would probably mean a back-to-knitting blog for you-all....)

The, uh, "Blessings" of Homeownership

2011-02-03T18:25:00.003-07:00

Woo-hoo, it's 2011!!
So far, we've had two major systems in our house go on the fritz.
And it's only the 3rd of February.
Looks like it's gonna be an interesting year.

Last week, the heater went out on us. I got up Wednesday morning and thought it was a bit brisk in the house. (55 degrees). I played with the thermostat and reassured by the "firing-up" sound, figured it was a fluke. About 10 minutes later, I woke up enough to realize the heater was not actually blowing anything warm into the house and the thermostat should Never let it get to 55 degrees .
The DH stayed home to meet and greet the Heater-repair-heroes. They reviewed our trying-to-come-on heating unit that would abort actually blowing out any heat after roaring to life over and over again. They had to get parts and came back the next day (again hosted by the DH) to repair the closet dragon and gift us with the balmy 64 to 68 degrees we normally range within.
Yep, we aren't into the indoor Greenhouse effect.
As Brenda Dane says in her "Cast On" Podcast: "If you're cold, put on a sweater. That's what they're for."

Living in Arizona, I can be subject to getting a leetle smug about our usually tame "Winter" weather. I really try not to, but it just comes out every now and again. I'm human.

Karmically...Mother Nature has a sense of humor.
A week after the heater adventure, we're experiencing record low temperatures in Arizona.
Yes, we did cover the plants and the exposed pipes....but Not enough. Not nearly enough.

It was still below freezing at 11 AM this morning.
We'll see what survives from my patio-garden. (Usually the "foreign" plants from back east come right back but the local stuff keels over big time after a freeze.) Most every plant back there looks pretty unhappy.

When I couldn't get water out of the pipes this AM, I checked the news and online and heard our local water company was having issues with the electronics freezing at the water pump stations.
I checked outside and didn't see any obvious issues so I figured the Water Company was the culprit.
Until I called the neighbors across the way. They had frozen pipes and their next-door neighbors had running water from functioning plumbing.
I took another look outside and noted a split in a bulbous trap-thingy at the bottom of the bizarre maze of pipes that stick into and out of our house on the North West corner.
(The previous owner of the house was a do-it-yer-self-er. The kind that makes professional electricians and plumbers blanch when they view his handiwork.)

I realized the day was going to be a lot more interesting than I had originally thought.

I called into work to report that I'd be staying home to monitor pipes and wait for the repair gent.
We consulted with the Plumbers that had visited us in November for a blocked drain. They said they couldn't do anything until the pipes thawed. I noted that I'd like to get on the visit-list since it was obvious we'd need assistance with the geyser when the pipes thawed.
Our lovely neighbors across the way gifted us with experienced opinions and jugs of water.
We put a heater out to blow on the pipes and hustled the thawing process with a blow dryer. Three big 'ol cracks made themselves known and I checked back with the Plumbing company to get on the active visit list since things were thawed and leaking (yes, leaking around the closed-as-we-could-get-it water main valve).

The plumber-hero turned up less than a couple of hours later and cut and capped off three sections of the pipe-maze:

(Arrows show where Ice was found creeping out of the seams.)

He advised me how to insulate the pipes some more and we plotted for him to return in a couple of weeks to finish putting the pipe-maze to rights.
I made a trip to the plumbing supply store where the haggard clerk was having a gonga sales day (A LOT of people had busted pipes) but he was still in good spirits and very kind.

Well, we'll see what happens next. The blessings of homeownership abound.
I still feel blessed to have a roof over my head....ooohh - that's one of the big things we haven't replaced in this house yet.
And there's a lot more of 2011 to come...
(Yes, that realization really did hit me as I was gonna reference back to a positive blessing of homeownership...{sigh})

The DH is fired as a receptionist and Snoozing Fur-balls

2011-01-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, the DH called me at work to tell me someone had called to say...I'd won a drawing.

I asked from where...he didn't know.

I asked what I'd won...he didn't know.

I asked if he'd taken a phone number...nope. {wry grin}

I had to laugh and I told him he was fired as a receptionist.

A few weeks before that, I'd visited The Tucson Yarn Company during a Lantern Moon event and dropped my name in their raffle drawing - and I actually didn't know what the prizes were.

But that was the only place I'd put my name in for a drawing, so I called them.

They were very gracious and confirmed they had indeed called and spoken to my husband and I indicated I'd come by over the weekend to pick it up. I asked what I'd won and they described a pretty silver/grey bag I had actually looked at during my visit but that I'd put back down because it had "stuff" in it (rather than being an empty, obviously for-sale bag it looked like a kit).

And that's the one that I'd won!

(Spiffy, huh?)

And the stuff?

(Yes, That's Gryphon "shopping" for something to chew on that I will
take away from him as soon as I put down the camera...)

There's a bit of sparkly silver yarn (Louisa Harding Glisten), a selection of "soak" samples and clever "soak" labels, an Everlasting Bag Stopper Pattern (wonder if I'm supposed to use the sparkly Yarn to make a Bag Stopper? Maybe not.) and Gryphon's favorite, Lantern Moon Gelato.

After being deprived of his chew-toy of choice, Gryphon took a nap in the sunshine with Mikale and CooPurr:

Mikale and CooPurr were pretty soundly asleep during the camera flashes:

But CooPurr stirred to peek at me and stretch:

And me? I'm splitting my time between blogging, laundry, and a couple of knitting projects (preemie socks, Reba's 2nd sock, and some test knitting) and enjoying the Eureka episode I taped a few months ago.

Hope you-all enjoy some craft-y time this afternoon as well!

Oscar & MLK

2011-01-17T23:07:00.005-07:00

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Dr. King was killed when I was pretty young.
He was killed before I was thinking much past not losing my shoes on the way home from school in Hawaii (because I would take the pesky things off as soon as I left school grounds).

He was killed quite a while before I learned that skin color made a big difference to some people.

But Dr. King's legacy lives on. He continues to inspire and teach.
And I think we are improving and learning to Coexist on a lot of levels.
Yes, we still have a ways to go, but today we're closer to Dr. King's Dream than we were in 1963.

As promised, please find below pictorial evidence of what Oscar, the low-maintenance Office Cat "wears" for MLK day.

I think Dr. King said it best. So in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Oscar is simply and poignantly adorned with these still beautiful and inspiring words:
(Excerpts from the Aug. 28, 1963 "I have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King. Jr.)

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.""

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. "

May we continue to learn and grow and accept - and dream.

My heart, sympathy, and wishes for healing are offered to the victims and families of the senseless January 8th shooting in Tucson, Arizona.

Thanks and healing are also offered to the Emergency Services and Medical Personnel who made Tucson proud on such a dark day.

2011 Goals (I don't like to make "resolutions")

2011-01-02T17:43:00.004-07:00

"Aspirations" is another good option to "resolutions" but it seemed too "lofty" a word for my mundane, down-to-earth goals.

KiniaCat 2011 Knitterly Goals:

I signed up for the Master Knitter Program in 2010 but have done little toward completion beyond general study and tracking down supplies. Hence, I’ll be knitting a lot of swatches in the first few months of 2011 so I can ship off my submission for review and still have some time for correction/resubmission based on the review response.
I think it's time to try knitting socks - from the toe up!
A co-worker recently asked for preemie socks for her new grandchildren - and I found a tiny toe-up pattern that might suit and get me started on this goal. (Pattern courtesy of Nicole Eggers-Runge - Thank you!!)
The traditional dieting entry - with a twist...back to the Yarn Diet. (didja catch the pun?!?)
I must reduce the scary stash! (And there’s some lovely yarn in da stash just a'calling my name…)
The general rule is to only acquire more yarn after twice the amount of stash yardage has been used and to avoid random, lustful yarn purchases that are not associated with a specific project.
The Yarn Diet does not apply to any Sock or Technique clubs already joined or renewed and the diet will be temporarily suspended if I get to go to any major knitterly events (I'm only human, after all!).
Color work.
Time to give knitting with multiple colors a real shot. Lik-a-dis. (Maybe the mitten version...double the new technique challenge!)
And in support of this goal, my In-laws gifted me with this inspirational Colorwork Club from the Unique Sheep.

KiniaCat 2011 Personal Goals:

Firstly - an age-old issue relating to Mindfulness.
I need to build in a pause/time to consider before I speak. I have a lack of editing between my brain and mouth sometimes. Not generally hurtful…more along the lines of TMI/boring.
Although...there are occasions when I "open mouth, insert foot" - and then gnaw on my toes in embarrassment. I think more sleep would generally help with this goal, but there is a base issue here that I would like to improve.
I would like to invest a 1/2 hour a day in pursuing non-knitting related goals. (This is necessary because I would like to spend my entire day on knitting-related goals.)
Clearing out old magazines, filing receipts, going through my closet, music, movies...(extra trips to the recycling charitable thrift-donation folks are planned in 2011!), remembering to water my plants on a more regular basis, ~ Blogging ~(!). The to-do list goes on and on.
Just a 1/2 hour a day would make a huge difference so that is the plan. Uh, goal.
I am planning to continue the more regular exercise habit I returned to in late 2010.
I feel better. I sleep better. I fit into my jeans better... (Hallelujah!!).
Another age-old-problem for me - sleep deprivation.
Sometimes it is caused by random, frustrating insomnia.
However, I must take responsibility for the majority of my sleeplessness of late.
The "I'll go to bed after I do 1 more thing" (times 5) delay.
The inevitable lie: "I'll just log into Ravelry for 5 minutes...".
The other inevitable lie: "Just 5 more minutes and I'll get up...".
The big challenge of this goal is a loss of time with the DH: The staying up late to visit and talk with the DH - who works a different shift than I do. {Sigh}

Well, that's plenty.
The technique-based knitterly goals should be relatively easy - and fun.
I think documenting the Master-Knitter goal and progress here will help that goal move along.
The Yarn Diet is the most well-thought out - and I've successfully yarn-dieted before.
However, the personal goals are more challenging to quantify - and to stick to.

In the meantime, Happy New Year to you and yours!

Let's see what we can accomplish in 2011!!

Christmas Amaryllis

What is a Clunky Old PC Monitor Good For?

2010-12-26T22:01:00.004-07:00

What is a Clunky Old PC Monitor Good For?
Kitty TV...

(Left to Right: Nikoli, CooPurr, & Gryphon)

Bird watching and enjoying the neighborhood smells...

And for me? General PC-based endeavors (enhanced by fur, purrs, and flicking tails that inevitably block the screen...)

(How much longer do you think it will hold up under the, uh, extra duties?)

It does get better!

2010-12-20T21:33:00.004-07:00

I originally started this blog entry specifically intending to show support for the It Gets Better Project.
I will still do that, but I'm going to mention a few other subjects/blogs that have made me pause to consider how much more I have to learn and grow - and that have offered hope that our world is still improving.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And...this is still not the blog I had re-intended.

I tried to describe how sad-beyond-words it makes me that children would take their own lives because they feel there is no other way to stop the pain.
Is this because they literally have not reached a point in their physical and emotional growth where they can fully comprehend "later" or that this day in school doesn't have to define their whole life and that everyone won't always treat them this way?
What if there is a chemical imbalance skewing their world?

And how to explain that bullies tend to be a few ignorant jerks, or people lashing out because of their own pain, or other people slinging "stones" because they don't want people to sling stones at them.

Can we teach the bullies compassion?
Aside from extremely rare exceptions, I definitely believe so.

Please know you are Not alone. Deep Breaths.
Please consider there are many tomorrows that will be better than today.
Please notice the overwhelming good in the world. It's right there in front of you.
It is just not as loud and obvious as the bad stuff. But good is Much more plentiful and consistent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The above is the short version and lacking the full weight and depth of my feelings on the subject of bullying and suicide.
But the short version might make for a better blog and actually does achieve a mild semblance of coherency.
I suspect I may not be in a place where I can explain what I'm feeling and how I wish it to be better.

So...the short version it is.
Please consider the links below as confirmation that our world and society is still trying to do better.
E-hug.

To all younglings who are subjected to torture and bullying...most especially Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) kids - It Truly Does Get Better. You are NOT alone.
Anti-bullying Starts in First Grade. Katie, I am particularly fond of "Star Wars" ("Star Trek", "Firefly"...the list goes on!). Let us revel in our similarities AND our differences! It's part of makes us unique and the world a more interesting place!
Challenge Day. I think it helps people to find compassion.
TED - Ideas Worth Spreading. No, I haven't fully explored this site and it's quite feasible there are Ideas presented with which I cannot agree. But I love what it stands for and it's an interesting and heartening exploration that I intend to continue.
Lots of food for thought...about the effects of what we say and what is heard:
"Who hears you, when you speak about rape?".
And a repeat offering: Randy Pausche's "Last Lecture". It's worth your time. Really.

I forgot to introduce you to one of my cats...Oscar

2010-12-07T19:33:00.003-07:00

Like Nikoli and Mikale, I inherited Oscar from someone at work.
The gent that gifted him to me felt I would be a better owner for Oscar. Something about he didn't really have enough room and that Oscar needed more attention than he could provide.

Essentially, I don't think I got much choice in the matter of "adoption". Certainly not as much choice as I had with the orange kitties. Oscar was left in my cube one day after the gent had said something about bringing me a cat. However, I did get to name him! He just looked like an "Oscar" to me. I'm not quite sure why.

Oscar is my office-cat.
He watches over my cube and keeps an eye on visitors, trying to make sure they don't leave too much work behind after they visit.
(He is not terribly successful at this endeavor, but I appreciate the effort.)

Oscar is the epitome of low maintenance.
No brushing, feeding or litter-box cleaning required.

I will try to do a better job of including him in the blog so you know what he's up to and what he's wearing.
Oscar has outfits for the major holidays! Some he came with and some I've added to his wardrobe.

In honor of our upcoming December Holiday, here is Oscar in his Santa Claws accessories:

(All the hats have cutouts for his ears!)

Oscar and I (along with the DH and the furry monsters at home)
wish you a lovely Holiday Season.

Please paws to revel in friends, family, furry loved ones,
and the beauties of the season.

Blessings Be. Give or Take a Hundred Years.

2010-11-25T18:35:00.005-07:00

Blessings be to you and yours on this day of Thanks.

Yes, I know. It's officially the Holiday Season.
Revered, anticipated, and dreaded all at the same time.

In the U.S., if you consider almost any traditional "Holiday", you'll find negative aspects of the holiday that never occurred to us when we were on break from school as children; hyper-commercialism, stress from additional tasks, family baggage, depression, or activities that are downright inconsistent to the original point of the Holiday.

But today is Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. ... so...yes, I am Thankful for:

My job (sometimes frustrating but always interesting and challenging),
My friends (unique, kind, talented, and oddly tolerant of my foibles),
My DH,
My feline kids,
My birth family (admirable individuals),
My Country (Sometimes we're a bit of a selfish lot, but we do freedom reasonably well and we can be inspirationally generous), and
My much-taken-for-granted health.
And Blessings Be to the world for Knitting!! {Happy sigh!}

And then my brain wanders off to marvel at other things for which I am Thankful - and I pause to consider how all of these things are very new or only recently readily available to the average person.
(!!And sometimes still not available here or in some parts of the world - think about it!!)
These things were literally unheard of 100 years ago or only available to the very, very rich.
What about 75 years ago? 50?

This much growled-at PC that actually does labor reasonably well for me.
Satellites.
The Internet (Blogger? Ravelry? Wikipedia? NetFlix? Google Maps? Spell Check!).
Television. Radio.
The right to Vote.
Plastic.*
Air Flight. Space Flight.
Mechanical Wonders (Automobiles and Crock pots, Clothes Washing Machines, and what about all the medical mechanical wonders...?)
* Chemistry/biological wonders. (Antibiotics? Chemo-therapy? DNA Mapping?)
My ongoing education and curiosity of the world (What would I have been allowed (or had time) to study 100 years ago?)
"Stash" (books, fabric, yarn...more books). (50 years ago "stash" was primarily used to describe a cache of drugs - sad.)
A ready supply of chocolate in many forms and flavors (Yeah, think about that one!)
Central Heating/Air Conditioning!?!
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!
Heck - INDOOR PLUMBING!??!
The list goes on and on...and yet how much am I still taking for granted?

That perspective increases the Thankfulness at least 1000-fold, does it not?

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. May we be more appreciative of our many blessings.

My Viewing Pleasure

2010-11-20T14:39:00.005-07:00

Mystery!
If you didn't get to catch Masterpiece Mystery's excellent new presentation of a very old, established literary character, please track down "Sherlock" in your local Public Television/BBC website. We truly enjoyed it and are awaiting the next installation in the series - due out the Fall of 2011. {SIGH - so long to wait...}
(I do support my local PBS station. Shows like Masterpiece Theater (Classic, Mystery, & Contemporary), Nova, Great Performances, This Old House... PBS fills a major gap and simply must continue.)

Bending!
Inspired by the rave reviews of some knitterly friends, I recently finished watching all 3 (?) seasons of the animated TV Series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" . (I'm lov'n Netflix!)
And - it was pretty cool. Aside from the to-be-expected kids/"Jerry Lewis" humor and some overdone drama, it was a pretty good story, good artwork, well "acted", and pretty decently written (well, mostly).
I really enjoyed it!
I would kinda like to know what they did with the criminally insane royal fire-bender sibling and what happened to Zuko's Mom...and also the fate of the cabbage vendor (did he retire on Avatar play royalties?). But I guess they couldn't tidy up everything.
(The same knitterly friends panned the The Last Airbender movie. I'll take a gander at it some time - just to be fair.)

Furious!
The DH recently gifted me with a copy of the animated movie "How to Train Your Dragon". Excellent fun!!
I'm afraid I have not read the book so at some point I'll track it down to see what changed between original novel and animation.
Throughout the movie, the main Dragon Character, Toothless, constantly reminded me of one of our also-not-toothless house-critters:

(Uncanny "Night Fury" Dragon resemblance.
And if you factor in how destructive Gryphon can be
when he "flies" through the house...)

(Please pardon the cheesy/grainy photo - it's challenging to get a picture of Gryphon {holding still} that shows how green his eyes are.)

Gleeful!
Lastly...I am seriously enjoying watching "Glee". I started watching late in the 1st season but I quickly caught up on Hulu.

It's a caricature or musical, high school and people. I think it is delightful, silly, charming, wicked-fun, and a bit angst-y but I LOVE the music.

I grew up watching 1940 & 1950 movie musicals with my Mom. I am also fond of attending Broadway Show tours that come through town. I suspect that's where some of my delight in this show originates.

The talent involved is stellar. We're treated to amazing musical performances each week - from well known performers and from brand new talent. (Matthew Morrison, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Chris Colfer, Lea Michele, Neil Patrick Harris, Charice, Jane Lynch, - the list goes on and on...amazing talent all!)

I do like shows that can surprise me. Glee is clever and heartful. Sometimes there's an excess of angst and a little sit-com ploy, but but it can still surprise and charm me. I can't say I love every episode entirely, but it's always fun and interesting - and...oh, the music!

I revel in the show tunes and presentations of classic pop/rock I grew up with.
I have also been surprised and intrigued to hear more modern tunes presented in a choral or group format. The harmonies are amazing - probably my favorite part. One of the "glee" clubs on the show, the "Warblers" remind me of the University a cappella groups I've found on iTunes-U.

(Which I cannot find again to link to this blog - sorry.) Ah - rather like "Straight No Chaser"!

I'd heard of Lady Gaga and had seen some of her work - which is innovative and very interesting. But I became quite taken with the Glee version of "Bad Romance".
I'd never heard Madonna's "What it feels like for a Girl" - but I am very drawn to the Glee version performed by the Glee Guys and how it was used in the episode. It has become one of my favorites.

I'll stop now. No, I don't think I qualify as a "Gleek" - either by the Fox slang for a Glee-Geek or by the surprising dictionary definitions for that word (ewww). But for now, I'll keep watching and listening!

So What is a Book Meme???

2010-11-17T21:17:00.007-07:00

What is a "Book Meme" anyway? Answer. Ohhhh. K.

I saw this on The Yarn Yard Blog and was intrigued...
I gotta wonder who chose the books and why CS Lewis' Narnia books are included twice (once as a set and once as the 1st book in the series)?
And why are the vast majority of these classics profoundly depressing?
I know - it's "Art".
As you've guessed, I may not always find "art" entertaining or desirable.
Reality is enough "art" on it's own most days.
But I do love books...

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Underline those you intend to read
3) Italicise the books you LOVE.
4) Post your list so we can try and track down these people who’ve only read 6 and force books upon them.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (not all of it)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (I steer clear of Orwell after reading "Animal Farm" #41 in school)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (I've only read a few)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (I keep thinking about reading this one...hmmm.)
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (see 36 as well)
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (I loved the history/descriptions of Europe)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (Started it but quickly realized this was the stuff of nightmares for me)
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker (I've got this started, actually)
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Alborn
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

The Obnoxious Furry Quilt

2010-11-15T12:25:00.005-07:00

"Once upon a time, there was a young girl who was extremely responsible and reasonably bright.
But she was also profoundly naive and trusting. And she got married."

Yeah, that was me. I call it "The Training Marriage".
Whereby you learn that there realllllly are people like that in the world and you reallllllllly don't want to marry them.

I would say my taste in men has dramatically improved. The evidence being the "DH" (Dear Husband), referred to occasionally in this blog. Much mo'betta. Trust me.

I actually did get a few good things out of the Training Marriage/First Love.

I learned how to drive a standard transmission. It is my transmission of choice.
I was introduced to the music of Styx. Probably still some of my favorite music. (No, I haven't kept up with them since their split with original member Dennis DeYoung. Tsk.)
I got the hair stylist in the divorce. (Ok, this sounds much funnier when the stylist is introducing me to people chortling that I got him in the divorce.)
No, it wasn't part of the divorce decree, but the Ex has a tough time facing people... We'll leave it at that.
I got a couple of stellar recipes from my ex mother-in-law. Wicked-good tacos. Seriously - eat 'em until you've eaten too many "good".
....
Um... ...well...that may be about it.
I did learn not to be sooooo trusting. I may have learned it a little too well.
Oddly enough, I'm still pretty gullible and trusting in some areas. Not so much in others.

Ah - I also got a queen-sized quilt made by my mother.

That marriage didn't last, but the quilt has.
My mother was a pretty amazing seamstress. She made most of her clothes for most of her life.
She could look at a dress and make a pattern.
She was very, very stylishly dressed in her younger, modeling days.
She was adept in a variety of crafts - Knitting, Crochet, Quilting, needlework...she could do pretty much anything.
I miss her. A lot.

Mom went through phases of colors. Blues, Yellows, Burgundy, Plum...her wardrobe would be augmented based upon her current color phase.
Yes, in the 70's and part of the 80's there was a fair amount of polyester involved in her sewing.
And there was...a brief fake fur phase. As I recall, there were a variety of jackets made from fake fur for several members of our family. (My blue/white one didn't achieve completion...which happens with crafting and growing children.)

So, after I had married the guy of which my parents did not approve (smart, weren't they?), but that they had accepted for my sake...she decided to make us a quilt for a Christmas present.
A Nine-Patch quilt.
Out of the scraps of fake fur.

I loved that she made me something. I loved that it was useful and well-crafted and warm.
I was not crazy about the colors. And I thought it was a bit... obnoxious.

And I am still not crazy about the colors and I still think the furry aspect is a bit obnoxious.
But - it is unique and I still love that I have something she made for me. And the DH and I use it every year.
This inscription always goes on my side of the bed - tucked under my chin in the winter-time.

And the cats - all of my cats - have loved it on sight/feel. It is irresistible to any feline.
I love that they love it and that they snuggle and purr and play and kneed on it.

"And they lived happily ever after..." certainly didn't apply to The Training Marriage.
And it doesn't always apply to the current marriage.
But there is laughter and purring on a pretty regular basis.
And there is also a well-loved, obnoxious, furry quilt that was a gift of love from my mother.

The Music Under his Feet

2010-11-14T13:59:00.002-07:00

Savion Glover.
I was able to attend his "Bare Soundz" performance here in Tucson last night.

I witnessed Grace.
Humor. Joy.
Rhythm (of course).
Stamina - amazing stamina.
Clever. Charming.
Flow. Energy - Tap Jazz.
Shared Joy.
Experience and innovation.

Honor and Gratitude - shared by Mr. Glover with the generous sponsors, the two gentlemen with whom he shared the stage: Marshall Davis Jr. and Keitaro Hosokawa, the stage crew, the sound-man (!), Mr. Gregory Hines, the ushers, the pre-show Tap Performers in the Centennial Hall courtyard, and shared with the audience (which happened to include Mr. Ben Vereen(!) {who inspired a special song from Mr. Glover!}).
Here's a small sampling of what I was gifted with last night: Savion Glover on the Colbert Report.

(Yes, some of my knitting was imbued with last night's rhythm: The Einstein Coat, The Birds Nest Shawl, and a stray green hat I pulled from the UFO pile.)

I told my husband I'm kinda in love with another man...

2010-10-30T13:34:00.006-07:00

He was pretty good about it...and he understands.
He didn't even laugh at me!

We just finished watching the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" on Comedy Central.
I told the DH that I was kind of in love with Jon Stewart for what he'd just done/said.

Yes, I expect it was an excellent advertising gimmick.
And tomorrow or even tonight, I expect we'll hear a great deal about how many people were watching (or are belatedly watching it online or as a rebroadcast).

But it was grand and funny and a kind reminder to folks to pause in the rampant "The Sky is Falling" antics/panic.

I first heard about this event via a Cafe Press e-mail offering "Restore Sanity"/"Keep Fear Alive" t-shirts (Yep - marketing and souvenir sales...).
My initial response to the Cafe Press ad was a confused look/ "What the ???" - but I tracked it down and was not too surprised to see Stewart/Colbert were up to something interesting.

I do enjoy watching both "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" - although I don't get to watch as often as I'd like.
When I do get to watch, I find them intelligent, charming, ironic, fun, clever, silly, sane/insane, respectful-or-not, but always thought-provoking.

And...their shows can be an educational opportunity.
As was today's pundit/comedic Rally.

I say "Well Done" to Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert!!
"Well Done" to all the people who performed, wrote, created, supported, and pulled off this larger-scale reminder that:

It's not all bad news
It's not all news-worthy
Generalizations/Stereotypes work best in humor or fiction and not necessarily in real life
Humor can help people pause in learned-loathing habits to possibly reconsider/grow
We do need to vote/be aware/be responsible
Irony can be sweet or sour
"Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves - for we shall never cease to be amused".

Please have a lovely weekend and revel in humor, irony, intelligence, and the gift that it is to be a free citizen of the world.

Tuesday is election day.

You may think that a single vote doesn't count...

but they're All single votes - and they add up.

Barber Shop Intern?

2010-10-17T15:13:00.002-07:00

Cheap entertainment for the day: The DH got a home hair cut set and asked me to cut his hair.
(Possibly not considering that I am extra sleep deprived just now. {wry grin})

We setup on the back porch and I cut his hair - shorter on the sides, longer on top using the attachments that came with this have-yer-wife-do-it-herself kit. Trimmed the hairs on his neck and around his ears.

My first time cutting anyone's hair - ever. And it wasn't bad!
He went inside to check and came out correctly noting the curve of his head on the side that was away from me was a little teeny bit "bushy". (He'd setup up his chair against a table and the cord and my short arms didn't reach as well on that side.)
I'm game for a re-trim so we moved the chair, reapplied the longer cutting tool and I trimmed.

And it seemed like a lot came off.
E'yep, I'd put on the shorter attachment - he now has the equivalent of a military "bowl" cut.

He took it VERY well and we both laughed. I told him it was Karma - he could tell his younger brother it's payback for the time when DH shaved his brother's head bald when they were little boys.

He wants me to try cutting it again in a few weeks. He's a brave, sweet man.

Hmmm - maybe a little too short on top...

Love 'dem Kitties, 'deed I do..."HEY - stop that!!..."

2010-10-15T20:37:00.012-07:00

I think it is safe to say that Los Gatos are a prime source of entertainment 'round here:

Sink-Bed.

I wish I'd gotten pictures of CooPurr jumping up to this sink. He stood up on his back legs to peer up at the sink (no, he's not quite tall enough to see over the lip, but his head is about on level with the bottom edge of the sink.)
(Click here for a CooPurr scale picture against my clunky PC monitor.)
Then he plotted his jump, rocking and stepping forward with several false starts, until he flew up to the sink and landed gracefully with two paws on the front edge and two paws on the left-side edge - having planned it perfectly.

(This is NOT a little sink - and CooPurr fills it easily.)

Window-Friend.

Gryphon has another "friend" he plays with besides myself and Nikoli...."Gecko":

Gryphon checks the back door every evening.
Usually Gecko is high up on the screen door.
This night Gryphon didn't have to jump or be held up to visit Gecko.


("Can we keep him?")

Altered-State.

Gryphon (inspired by Nikoli) recently discovered there's catnip in that sausage-roll of stripey fabric:

More-Merrier!

And there's ALWAYS a cat or three to help make the bed - and changing the sheets is a hysterical process!!

Yep - that lump Nikoli is attacking - it's Gryphon.

(Nikoli focuses on what is under his nose...oblivious to all else.)

Oh yeah - they help for the entire process!
(Did you notice Mikale peeking from the other side?)

Cruel-Fate. {SIGH}

This is what I found the other morning when I got up:

Down-Time.

Gryphon, also likes to hang out with us in the computer room...snoozing quietly...

all soft and cute-looking...

with his paw dangerously close to the "ESC" key on my keyboard...??

"Gryphon! Watch it!...! Move your..."

"Click"..."Gah...Rasssn-Frassn"..."Did it save?"

The Return of the Carpet

2010-10-10T17:23:00.009-07:00

Updates all 'round...

Charity Craftiness:
The Jayne Hats I made for the local Browncoat Group Charity event...The larger one was part of the raffle prizes. I understand the gent who won it was rather tickled. The medium sized-one was sold for $40.00. And they've asked me to make a couple more! {Yarn shopping!!}

The Entrelac Scarf I made has been donated to the Academy for Cancer Awareness' Confetti Gala to benefit the Under-insured Cancer Patient Fund. I believe it will be part of the Silent Auction offerings next week.

Also donated to benefit the Under-insured Cancer Patient Fund, these loverly, spiffy baby hats/socks.
(Please Note, I did NOT knit these. I asked for volunteers to knit to help this charity and I donated the cotton stripy yarn...and these were created by an extremely talented friend of mine.)

I am entirely smitten with these.
The charity folks were tickled too!

(She completed the hat above with "leftover" cashmere yarn and bits of the cotton yarn pulled off so she could make the socks match!)

(I am agog at the perfect matching socks...sigh.)

So - although I did NOT knit these, I have to share the pictures because they're simply too wonderful and looking at them makes me smile!

Personal Craftiness:

I've completed one of the "Columbine Peak" Blue socks for my niece and started on the 2nd sock.
And I completed the Dublin Bay Socks for me-self:

(Pay no attention to the pink bits, I try not to...)

I'm knitting away at the first portion of my Einstein Coat. I'm doing it in Reynolds Lopi Yarn. I love the white-on-black tweedy effect, but the yarn feels quite "woolly". (rough)
Since it's meant to be a coat...I'm ok with "woolly".

The Einstein Coat is so named because "you feel like a genius when it's done".

Beyond that, I'm swatching for Reba's socks (also in the Dublin Bay Pattern) and the lacy Sabine cardigan:

Home Improvement:

As previously noted, the DH and I decided to replace our well-loved living room carpeting. After carpet shopping and selection was achieved, we packed. A lot. With Help:

Gryphon and CooPurr

Nikoli and Mikale

And the new carpet arrived and was installed!
It is very tactile and yummy to walk upon and we're quite pleased with it!
The cats like it too and displayed their approval in ways that best suit their purrsonalities:

This is a good place for a bath!

Relaxing - high and low.

WRESTLING!!

Here's the thing I belatedly noticed.
Back when the cats were helping us carpet-shop...Mikale was elsewhere and did not voice his opinion regarding carpet samples:

AND...I noticed the carpet shade we chose looks a tad familiar...

E'yup - it appears we chose a shade of carpet that is very nearly great camouflage for Mikale.

However, I think Mikale's normal posture of "Sunny Side Up" will keep him pretty visible:

Hats inspired by Ma Cobb to support Equality Now

2010-09-16T00:07:00.003-07:00

We have a "Can't Stop the Serenity" screening at the Loft Theater later this month - hosted by our local Browncoat group.
(What is a Browncoat, you ask? Follow the link for a decent explanation.)
{Why yes, I really am that geeky - and proud and tickled about it! If you haven't seen the Firefly series and the Serenity movie - you've been missing out and you should correct that lapse in your entertainment world with all haste! (and maybe with some popcorn, and some friends...pizza is good too...}

The proceeds from the Can't Stop the Serenity event benefit Equality Now and The Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona.
A young lady I know put out the word on Ravelry that the organizers of the event were looking for some Jayne Hats to offer at the Serenity screening.

I had the yarn in the required Red, Orange, Yellow colors (wool and alpaca yarn no less - yummy), a pattern, and the plot to knit a "cunning" Jayne hat on my Knitting to-do list.
Now seemed the time to do the deed.

I made one hat to match the pattern specifications. It is rustic and roomy and very nearly matches the pictures of Jayne Cobb wear’n the hat from his Ma. On my “pin-head” - it’s a little too roomy (i.e. fits best down over my eyes) so it’ll probably fit a normal sized person’s head mo’betta. (Or a Jayne Cobb-sized person...)

I tweaked the pattern some and made one that fits my head. And I still had more yarn - so I went for a 3rd hat of an in-between size. The yellow ran a little short on the 3rd hat so I finished the very top with some leftover Cascade 220 doubled (excellent color match).

I offered the 2 larger hats to the Arizona Browncoats group and their organizer picked 'em up yesterday!
She seemed very pleased with them.
I'm not sure if they'll be raffled or auctioned, but I hope they raise some decent funds for the charities AND that they'll sit well on the heads of a couple of Browncoats!
"A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything." ~ Wash
Shiny!!