It was a real itchy time

Okay, where else, except at a Yarn Harlot's presentation (or other similar function), is it acceptable to knit at meetings or presentations? sighhhhhhhh

I spent a little more than two hours at a meeting last evening. My youngest daughter/middle child is making her Confirmation in April. She attends a Catholic elementary school so the only requirement for us is to attend five meetings (the first of which was last evening) and she must also attend a retreat. The additional four meetings do not start until February 26 and then run for 3 additional weeks! I have to admit while one part of me was paying attention to the speakers (two out of three were very good), another part of me was itchy. I really, really wished that I had brought my knitting. I can listen and knit. I do it all the time.

It was a real itchy time.

You know when you start fidgeting because you need something to do with your hands and the yarn you left at home is calling your name (psssst . . . you forgot something, didn't you???)

The problem lies is that some people perceive that if you are knitting (or crocheting), you are not listening. It is a ridiculous perception but one that I have come across on several occasions.

Why is it acceptable for people to sit and doodle or even meditate (i.e., snooze) but not knit? It is just WRONG!

Seriously, if my sisters and I can get together, yak up a storm (and drink . . . and sometimes we are drinking coffee) and knit at the same time, then surely, I can knit during a meeting that discusses the reasons for Confirmation. So I have this plan, next time we will sit in the back which should work fine if they set up the room like they did last evening . . . set us up at tables and I'm in serious trouble. Or, better yet, I'll send my darling, loving hubby to the meeting and can stay home and knit in peace!

So, when I leaned over and whispered to Lindsey that I should have brought my knitting, she whispered back that she should have brought a book. I mean, seriously, THAT would be rude!

CASP Summer Secret Pal from Knitty

I received a great package from my CASP! In yesterday's mail, I received hand made stitch markers, two English knitting magazines with very cool stuff (Knitting and Simply Knitting), two sets of 22.5cm chopsticks, a lamb magnet, a lamb chocolate, bookmark and natural paper notebook. Really, really cool stuff. I've posted a picture on my blog.

Here is a picture.


The stitch markers are a wonderful green and brown (they would also make great earrings . . . so if I'm ever desperate for the perfect earrings, you may see me wearing my stitch markers!!)

The name on the package looks like Covey Googh(?). Thanks again so much. 19Thrifty4, you are a great Secret Pal!

You Are A Rowan Tree

You are full of charm and cheer. You light up a room. And while you crave attention, you do it without ego. You are an interesting mix of contradictions - and very unpredictable. You are both dependent and independent, calm and restless. You are passionate, emotional, gregarious, and (at times) unforgiving.

What's" Your Celtic Horoscope?

get her out of the oven . . . she's done

There I am knitting away, listening to an Artemus Fowl story on CD and not paying attention to what I am doing. What I am supposed to be doing is making a bowl. Instead, right now, it looks like a cowl because it is just WAY TOO BIG!! Now this wasn't all my fault. I was on the bus. Traffic was horrible and what should have been a 30 to 40 minute trip was 70 minutes. Seriously, I was so involved in the book (because the knitting is mindless) that I wasn't paying attention until the CD ended and two things happened: 1) I realized that the bus was still on the freeway and 2) the bowl was huge. Now the question is what to do. I didn't cast on enough stitches to make a large bowl and I just don't want to frog the thing. So, do I start decreasing and felt it and see how it goes or frog it.

I had an accounting quiz on Friday evening, a Human Resources essay exam on Saturday morning and a case due on Saturday for Marketing. The accounting mid-term is this Friday evening. Why am doing this to myself???? The accounting and HR professors are wonderful people. They are interesting (seriously, how interesting can accounting be but she is making it interesting rather than dry and boring) and kind of funny. The marketing teacher is a pain in the butt. Isn't it interesting that the good teachers both have Ph.Ds and the marketing teacher doesn't?

Plus, he is an old fool. On Friday night, one of the other women in the group suggested that she thinks that he is a sexiest and would love to get the total scores of everyone. She said that she would be willing to bet that the scores for the women are lower than the scores for the men. I have received a 90 on the last two homeworks. There weren't any notes or comments on them. So I asked him. His response "they were fine, nothing wrong, be happy with your grade."

The funniest thing happened just prior to one of the groups presenting their case on Saturday. The group consisted of four young women, all attractive and bubbly. First, one of them says to the teacher, "you look pretty spiffy today." Another then makes some other comment to him about his "wonderful help in helping her get her head around the numbers." They are all standing in front of the class while he is pulling up their powerpoint presentation. At that point, I turned around and looked at the three guys sitting behind me and asked them "are they doing what I think they are doing." They all nodded and said it sure looked like it. Then another one asks him about what should she do with her palm tree (he had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that he and his wife are involved with various horticultural efforts). He was putty in their hands. During everyone else's presentation, he would interrupt and was incredibly rude "did you check your figures because I don't see . . . " etc. With this group, he says "I can understand why you addressed this case in this manner." HUH??!!?? Now, the question is, was this a planned flirtation? Or do these cute young things just do this type of thing naturally? I have to admit that I have a friend that is an equal opportunity flirter and can and will flirt with everyone. But this just seemed to planned. It will be interesting to see what he gives them for a grade.

I did get an email from Mr. Warm-and-Wonderful wanting me to explain some of the conclusions on my personal case. He said that they needed clarification. I looked at them again and they made sense to me, so I just added some formulas and resent them. Arghhhhh.

May as well put a fork in me, cause I think I'm done!

Tooth of Time Felted bowl

As part of the WhoduKnit read/knit-a-long, we read Tooth of Time. As part of my knitting piece, I decided to make a bowl. The book is set in New Mexico and I was looking for something that would give the idea of a New Mexican bowl. Obviously, the colors aren't necessarily compatible with New Mexico but I do like the end product.



Here is my unfelted bowl. It is really fun. This is Knitpicks felted bowl pattern, using KP's memories yarn . . . pansy is the colorway. It knits up quickly and the yarn is lovely to work with.


Then after I felted the bowl (two washings . . . but the towels I had with it came from the kids bathroom and could use the two washings!), I shaped the bowl using a balloon.
After the yarn is dry, I popped the balloon and ta da . . . actually, the bowl ends up a lot rounder than the photo shows. The shadows and such make it look more lopsided than it is. The colors pooled wonderfully and I do believe that I am going to have to buy more memories yarn in different colors to make more bowls. This would be a perfect receptacle for holiday gifts for school teachers and such. It is the right size and unique.

August colorswap

August colorswap,
originally uploaded by mlj1954.

Isn't this a wonderful thing. These are all the beautiful things that I received from Mo, my August co-colorswapee. Brown Sheep in Roasted Coffee (the picture does not do the color justice), Lana wool in black, a bamboo candle, chocolate, bamboo purse handles, note cards, candy, cedar balls and a lovely striped cloth in eggplant, olive and beige.

I am already looking forward to the September colorswap (pinks/reds) and have started collecting stuff for Sam of Texas!

Total Frustration

Last evening, I spent hours looking for the pattern for the felted bowls. I've made a couple of these and probably do not need the pattern but it was making me stark raving mad. This morning, of course, I had a revelation . . . it is in "the bin." Actually, they are bins. The bins hold patterns and yarn, pretty much sorted by what yarn I am planning for the specific pattern. It sounds very logical, unless, of course, you spend hours looking for a pattern. I was, unfortunately, just getting ready to walk out of the house this morning when I remembered the bins. The bins, by the way, are stored in my master bath shower. We don't use it. Well, we don't use it for showering. I use it for storage (summer/winter clothing, my knitting stash). Now, you might wonder why I didn't remember the bins last evening. Especially considering the fact that they are so well organized. It is simple really. I organized everything before we went on vacation on July 22. I have not been back "in the bins" since and forgot how really organized I am (was?).

Then, to add insult to injury, I remembered this morning that the pattern is the felted bowl from One Skein. Of course, THAT book is sitting on my desk. Happy day, happy day. Oh yeah, except that my needles are at home! Bah humbug!

Grand Canyon at sunrise

Grand Canyon at sunrise,
originally uploaded by mlj1954.

Contrary to the date on the photo, Lindsey took this pictures at sunrise at the Grand Canyon on July 28, 2006 . . . her batteries went dead half way through her photos and when she switched them out, she forgot to change the date!