Runs With Needles: August 2005

Runs With Needles

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

It just keeps getting worse.

All of the Katrina footage is like a bad summer movie.

But, it's real.





They need help. This could have been any of us. Not necessarily a hurricane, but any natural disaster.

Go here to read a blog of someone who evacuated to Florida. It's heartbreaking.

If you want excellent coverage that isn't tainted by the network talking heads, go here. This is a New Orleans station that is streaming their broadcast 18+ hours a day.

And yes, I know I'm preaching, but it's my blog, yada yada yada.

I think what's gotten to me is the people who don't give a shit about what's happening. A co-worker and I were talking about the hurricane at work today. Someone walked by and remarked "God, I'm so sick of hearing about that."

I was speechless. (Which never happens.)

************************************************************************************

I have been knitting.

A sock!!!!

I think I'm in lurve! I LOVE knitting socks!!

posted by Kathy at 8/31/2005 07:31:00 PM | 0 comment(s)

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Indescribable

The images of what Katrina did are mind boggling.

I feel so helpless. So, I did the only thing I could think of:






Please, give what you can.

posted by Kathy at 8/30/2005 05:12:00 PM | 0 comment(s)

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Snotty Sunday

Yes, I said snotty Sunday. My head cold has exploded and filled my head with snot. Yes, that's more than you probably wanted to know, but when I feel like crap, I lose my 'edit' function. :)

I've been trying to pare down my projects on the needles. Then, yesterday at knit group, Leisel mentioned that she has SIXTEEN projects on the needles.

So, I decided to get back in touch with the project slut side of me.

Here's my mom's shawl:




The Touch of Red blanket is growing quickly:



The helmet liner I started at knit group yesterday:




And last night I cast on a new blanket, named Kermit.



Yes, my pictures are crappy. Ask me if I care.

And in case you haven't noticed, being sick brings out the bitch in me.

I'm hauling my snotty self to the couch and curling up with a box of Kleenex and my best friend:

posted by Kathy at 8/28/2005 02:11:00 PM | 3 comment(s)

Friday, August 26, 2005

Comments, comments

I always get such wonderful comments on my blog. Thank you!

Melanie has been nagging encouraging me to knit socks. I think she's also harassing me: "Cute cell phone bag. Did you knit it in the round or did you wimp out and seam it up? ;-) "

Why, yes, I did 'wimp out' and seam it up. I didn't feel like messing with dpn's so I just knit it on straights and then seamed two sides. Very easy!

I am planning on casting on a sock this weekend. Pictures to follow!

Felicia is taking the dogs' side of things: "Your dogs are never late with check for me to be their friend. Therefore, I will never believe those sweet, innocent babes would ever destroy anything in your house.

I believe YOU chewed the spatula, just to blame them.

Tell the dogs I love them, and their next payment isn't due until Sept. 12. The Knit Picks orders are always welcome. . ."

Hmmmm...I think somebody (somedog?) is contacting Felicia when I'm not watching.

Colleen commented about my little penguin movie over on the sidebar: "I know I haven't said before, but that little movie of the penguin falling in makes me crack up every time I see it. Soo freakin' funny."

I'm the same way, Colleen. A friend emailed me that mini-movie a few years ago and every single time I watch it, I burst out laughing. I just love it!!


Felicia pegged me correctly: "You child of the 80s!" and she made an awesome suggestion: "I still firmly believe an all 80's station would be perfect for Colorado Springs!"

I agree 100%. I would love an 80's station here. I don't listen to the radio very often because it's all commercials, crappy music and crappier DJ's.

Knit group meets tomorrow morning. Yay! I still can't believe I found such a wonderful group of knitters. We gather every Saturday morning and by Sunday night we're talking about how much we're looking forward to the next Saturday's meeting. If you haven't found a knit group in your area, I highly recommend it. And if you're in the Springs, come join us!

posted by Kathy at 8/26/2005 10:55:00 PM | 2 comment(s)

Thursday, August 25, 2005

An FO, a couple memes and more, I'm sure

I got a bug in my butt for a finished project last night and came up with this:



What: Felted cell phone case
Yarn: A little bit (way less than even 1/2 a skein) of Patons Classic Merino Wool in the color Denim Marl
Needles: size 9 for the case and size 8 for the i-cord
Pattern: I made it up as I went along
Lesson Learned: Felting is fun!
Destination: Already in my purse. :)

I got tagged twice in one day. Lucky me!

Birdsong tagged me with the "The 23rd post" meme. Here's how you do it:

1. Go into your archive.

2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).

3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).

4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

5. Tag five people to do the same.

My 23rd, 5th sentence reads: "That's why I'm so surprised at how sad I am about the loss of Chris LeDoux. "

My favorite singer is Chris LeDoux and he died much, much too soon. The above post was from the day he died, back in March.

I'm not going to tag five people. I'm too lazy. Instead, I'll tag Melanie and Felicia.

My other meme is from KnitNana. This is the "Name 6 of your favorite songs" meme.

In no particular order:

  • Fields of Gold, sung by Eva Cassidy. Her version of this song is magical.
  • The Dance by Garth Brooks. This song has helped me get through the worst times of my life: "Yes my life is better left to chance. I could have missed the pain but I'd of had to miss the dance "
  • Melt With You by Modern English. I don't know what it is, but I've always loved this song and hearing it never fails to put me in a great mood.
  • Sister Christian by Night Ranger. It's not the song that I love, but the memories that come back whenever I hear it: my best friend and I (around age 13), laughing, dreaming and just having one hell of a good time.
  • Western Skies by Chris LeDoux. Hearing this song reminds me of why I love where I live.
  • Where Were You by Alan Jackson. This song is still hard for me to listen to, but it brings me back to reality and reminds me what is important in life.

I think for this meme I'm going to tag my knit group buddies Christy and Leisel. If Blogless MJ had a blog, I'd tag her, but she doesn't. So, she misses out. :)

I'm down to 2 projects on my needles: My mom's shawl and the Touch of Red Blanket. I must start something else!!

I met Nan from Warm The World yesterday and gave her five blankets and two scarves. She gave me a huge bag of the bulky yarn that I love: Homespun, Watercolors and Wool-ease Thick and Quick. Yay!

I think I'm going to cast on a sock next. Wish me luck.

posted by Kathy at 8/25/2005 08:44:00 PM | 4 comment(s)

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Sunday morning comments

I haven't responded to my comments lately, so am going to do that with this post. And, truth be told, I'm avoiding cleaning my house. :)

A note about comments: you'll have to do one of those word verification thingys to comment. I did this in an attempt to beat the comment spammers. I don't want to restrict my comments to Blogger people only, so figure this is the next best thing.

AntiKathy asked me a couple of questions:
OK, is it pathetic that I know what branch of the library you stopped at from your pic?
Nope. It just means that you're a library slut, like me. :)

Since you drive by the General each day, tell me: do the high school kids still paint the horse's gonads in school colors before games? We.. err.. they did in my day.
My initial response to this question was "The General's horse has gonads?" The next time I drove by the General (which I do twice a day), I stopped my car and looked up. Yup! The horse has gonads! And no, they weren't painted. :)

Jesse asked "Whoa...what happened to the trees? As a fellow displaced Michigander, I couldn't imagine living somewhere so...flat. I'd feel positively exposed without a bunch of trees blocking my view of so much space."

I used to feel that way, but I've lived on the plains for six years now and I love it. There's something about all the open space and the huge sky that I just love. Now, when I return to Michigan, all the trees make me feel closed in and I miss the wide open spaces.

When I posted the pic of my chewed spatula, I got some funny observations:

Roxanne said "... if the spatula teeth marks don't fit..." and Felicia had the same thought "If the spatula doesn't fit, You must acquit!"

Hmmmm......it seems that Max and Kish have been working the email, recruiting supporters. Let me assure you, these two are not nearly as innocent as they look!

Felicia made the comment about training dogs: "Scout knows the names of his toys and can pick them out of his toy bowl."

My three don't know the names of their different toys, but they will get a toy when I ask them too. The odd thing is that they all respond to a different word. I ask them "Bring me a toy." for Max, "Bring me a bone" for Kish and "Bring it" for Sam. How did this happen? It would be much easier if they all understood the same thing.

Melanie asked about the page referrer on the bottom of my blog "How did you get the page "refferer" thing on your blog? Every time I go there they say they're not accepting new members... or am I missing something?"

That happened to me a lot, too. When they finally opened it back up for new members I was able to get an account. I don't know what their method for opening/closing membership is, though.

It's a gorgeous day here, but look at those clouds forming over the Peak:



We may be in for storms this afternoon. I hope so!!

posted by Kathy at 8/21/2005 11:38:00 AM | 5 comment(s)

Another day, another FO.



What: Orange Sherbert Blanket
Yarn: 3 skeins of Red Heart Baby Clouds in the color Creamsicle
Needles: 15
Pattern: Angel Baby
Lesson Learned: This pattern is interesting enough to prevent boredom and mindless enough to be the perfect TV watching pattern.
Destination: Warm The World

Today after knit group, Ann, Christy, Blogless MJ and I headed for Table Rock Llamas.

Wow. We had quite the good time. I think we fondled every skein of yarn and every bit of roving in the store. We all agreed that the silk roving was too wonderful for words.

Christy and I devoured several cubbies of yarn. We plopped down on the floor and pulled all the yarn out of the cubbies. Then we fondled and oohed-and-ahhed over every single skein. Most of them multiple times. All of our noisy squeals brought Blogless MJ into the room. She bought a couple skeins, too.

I came home with this:



Yes, I know I'm on a yarn diet. I had to buy them. The girls made me. Honest.

And no, we won't talk about the fact that I have a sock yarn stash and have never made socks.

I was going to make socks tonight, but got distracted. I decided to make a baby hat for J, to go with her baby blanket. However, I screwed it up twice and have yet to cast on a third time. I'm either staying up tonight to conquer this damn hat, or will do it tomorrow.

posted by Kathy at 8/21/2005 12:44:00 AM | 5 comment(s)

Friday, August 19, 2005

Off to meet the baby.

Actually, the blanket will be leaving to meet the baby. :)




What: J's baby blanket
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby. Less that one skein each of Mint, White, Pale Blue and Lemon.
Needles: 9
Pattern: Diagonal Baby Blanket
Lessons Learned: 1) It's all worth it in the end.
2) Next time I'm going to use a smaller needle size with this yarn. The FO is a bit too loose for my taste. It looks fine, but I think a smaller needle would make the blanket less stretchy.
Destination: My best friend, who's due to pop out my nephew in less than a month.

Smile for your close up:



I am really, really happy this blanket is done. The mind-numbing garter stitch was worth it in the end, but I'm ready to move on to something else now.

Tomorrow morning, as usual, will be spent with a bunch of very strange odd fantastic knitters/crocheters! (Or, as I like to call them: the hookers.)

Great people, pastries, caffeine, yarn fondling and knitting......is there a better way to spend Saturday morning?

posted by Kathy at 8/19/2005 11:20:00 PM | 3 comment(s)

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

So close I can almost taste it!!



It looks like I'll be finishing this blanket about the same time as the Civil War ends.

I was reading email tonight and heard Max chewing on a toy.

Or so I thought.



I know this was a two dog operation and I know who the culprits are. Max can't stand up on his hind legs anymore (arthritis) and Samantha was sleeping under my desk when this whole thing went down.

I present, the guilty parties:



You'd think I'd learn, but I don't. This is the third kitchen utensil that the Gruesome Twosome have chewed this month.



11:10pm update: One person has found my blog by searching for "porn with dogs". And a second disturbed person found me by looking for "dog fondling".

Yikes.

As my mother says, "It takes all kinds to make the world."

I don't think she means this kind, though.

posted by Kathy at 8/17/2005 10:32:00 PM | 7 comment(s)

For the dog lovers....

Go here, please, and watch the videos.

Don't worry. I'll wait.



:: tapping foot ::



:: humming 'Jeopardy' theme ::



:: playing with dogs ::




:: peaking at computer ::


You're back? Great.

What do you think? Is Sheba a genius, or is her master cueing her? I've watched each video twice and can't see where he might be telling her the answer.

Leave me a comment with what you think. I'd love to know if you saw something that I didn't.

posted by Kathy at 8/17/2005 07:25:00 PM | 3 comment(s)

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Foggy morning



posted by Kathy at 8/16/2005 06:31:00 AM | 1 comment(s)

Sunday, August 14, 2005

The end of a wonderful weekend

The weather here this weekend was utter crap and I loved it! It enabled me to watch The Civil War, knit and just generally be lazy without feeling guilty.

I made it up to 1864 in The Civil War:



And here is the progress on J's blanket:


I've very happy with how it's turning out. I expect to finish it this week.

Purse was a hit at Knitters With Altitude yesterday. I've also named her Molly. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. :)

Also this weekend I've been listening to the just released September 11th tapes. I really debated with myself about whether I wanted to listen to them. Then I realized that for the past four years, I've had the media tell me what happened that day. I want to hear it for myself. The tapes aren't easy to listen to and will probably take me several weeks to listen to all of them, but I will do it.

posted by Kathy at 8/14/2005 09:44:00 PM | 6 comment(s)

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Blogiversary, of sorts

For my 100th blog post, I thought I would share Purse's first day with me.

I had a rough day at work. One of our computer systems was acting up and our home office was 'very busy' fixing it. Yet, they made no progress the whole day. Around 4pm I asked my boss if I would get workman's comp if I put my fist through my monitor. :)

I was really looking forward to going home. Purse and I settled in for the long (42 miles) drive:



Then, it started to rain. Which, of course, freaks out most Colorado Springs drivers (along with snow, hail, sleet, wind and sunshine). Purse wanted to get a better view of the chaos on the roads:



Purse and I spent a lot of time stopped in traffic:



At one point, Purse tried to steer:



And change the radio station:



I put a quick stop to that and made Purse sit down.

Then she grabbed my sunglasses:



and started drinking my pop:




We said hello to General Palmer:



and made a quick stop at the library:



Purse was concerned about this person who left her lights on:





After picking up two more knitting books (SCORE!), we were on our way again. We were almost out of the city and that's when things got a little crazy. Purse decided to swing from the rear view mirror:




I was very angry and made her sit in her seat:




Suprisingly, she did. Until we turned onto our road:




Purse was very happy to be home:

posted by Kathy at 8/11/2005 08:14:00 PM | 8 comment(s)

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Kathy's got a brand new bag.

Isn't my new purse lovely?






It arrived today and was made just for moi by Sallee of Nana Sadie Rose .

I've been stalking admiring Salle's handiwork for awhile now and finally took the plunge. I am thrilled!!

I made quite a haul at the library today:



And this is how I intend to spend this weekend:





Working on J's blanket (I'm decreasing!!) and watching Ken Burns' The Civil War. I saw bits and pieces of this mini-series when it first aired and have always wanted to sit down and watch the whole thing.

Whenever I post doggy pictures, I get such wonderful compliments, so you know what that means!




posted by Kathy at 8/10/2005 08:10:00 PM | 3 comment(s)

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Doggy porn

If puppy pictures bore you, come back another day. :)

Anne was asking me about Max this morning, so here's some pictures of him for her:







And some more pictures, because I love my puppies.













posted by Kathy at 8/07/2005 01:04:00 AM | 4 comment(s)