Runs With Needles: November 2005

Runs With Needles

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Things that make you go hmmmmmm.....

What on earth is this?

Pile of i-cord

Why am I making a boatload of i-cord? And why am I making the i-cord so loose?

Samantha wants to know what I'm up to, too. She's threatened to bite Max unless I tell her my plans.

Shepherds

And, for my fellow Lost addicts, did any of you catch this:

thatsjustsayid

(Look at the television.)

I didn't catch this while watching the show. I found this pic on an Internet message board.

Yes, I'm that dorky.

And now, I'm off to watch my tape of Lost so I can see that scene for myself.

I'm also going to rewatch the scene of shirtless Jin.

I'll probably pause the VCR.

I have no shame.

posted by Kathy at 11/30/2005 09:46:00 PM | 3 comment(s)

Sunday, November 27, 2005

On a down note.

Yes, the four day weekend is over. I refuse to even think about where I must be in just eight short hours.

:: sob ::

This afternoon's double feature:

Double feature

Ever since it was released, I've heard nothing but raving reviews for Garden State. I was so excited about finally watching it.

Eh, it wasn't so great. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I almost turned it off about 20 minutes into the film, but it did get better.

Casablanca, of course, was wonderful. I love this movie! An added bonus was all of the special features on this two DVD set. If you're a fan of Casablanca, make sure you see all of these extras.

The helmetliners were progressing quite well earlier today:

The trouble has hit

Then, a series of unfortunate events occured:

Ugh

I don't even want to think about it. I've put the yarn and pattern away until I can think about this event calmly.

After the Helmetliner Incident, I did have success.

Presenting, We've Got Cables!

We've Got Cables

Yes, I can cable. I can't knit socks or a helmetliner to save my life, but I can cable.

I'll take victories where I can get them.

Finally, puppy pictures!

Here's sleeping Samantha:

Sleeping Sam

She was snoring when I took this picture and didn't even wake up when the flash went off.


Here's Max and the Favorite Dog Toy:

Max

They all love that toy and more than one fight has occured because of it.

Finally, some adorable (yes, I'm biased) Kishka pictures:

Kishka trying to sleep

Kishka on couch

Kish peering

posted by Kathy at 11/27/2005 11:25:00 PM | 4 comment(s)

Saturday, November 26, 2005

New projects and a huge 'thank you'.

Last night there was a triple feature around here:

Triple feature

There was also a ton of laundry:

Sam and laundry

Doesn't Samantha look disgusted by the sheer volume of laundry?

There's an advantage to living alone: if I don't want to do laundry, I don't. However, then it piles up and I'm left with a mountain of it!

Between the movies and the laundry, there was a lot of knitting last night.

Here's my first helmetliner:

Helmetliner 1

And the second:

Helmetliner 2

Here's the homework for my cable class today:

Cable homework

Yes, Felicia gave us homework. What a slave driver!

Finally, Max is modeling a brand new project:

Max with icord

Hmmmmm........a bunch of icord. What on earth could it be?

Stay tuned to find out!!


Yesterday, I mailed this off to Warm The World:

Needles for Warm The World

That's 39 pairs of needles and 6 crochet hooks.

Thank you.

You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for supporting Warm The World.

The needle drive is continuing, so please send any extra needles you may have.

I've decided that the yarn drawing will be on New Year's Eve. So, if your needles get to Warm The World (or to me) by NYE, you'll be entered in the drawing for Crazy Monkey Creations' hand dyed yarn.

I'll leave you today with two pictures that I love.

First, is Kishka.

Kishka

Don't you just love it when dogs rest their head on their paws?

And finally, Max. His expression in this picture seems to say "You lookin' at me?":

Max

posted by Kathy at 11/26/2005 07:29:00 AM | 3 comment(s)

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Gobble, gobble

I was going to skip posting a Thanksgiving themed post today. It's not that I'm not grateful, it's just that I read so many of those posts today and didn't feel like adding my own to the mix.

Until I read this one.

Jesse's post really struck a chord with me. I read his post a few hours ago and I can't stop thinking about it. It's not his words that has stuck with me. It's his attitude.

I really needed an attitude adjustment. Thank you, Jesse, for pointing me in the right direction.

After thinking about what I'm grateful for (beyond the obvious things of family, friends and health), I've come up with something quite unexpected.

I'm grateful for my divorce.

My divorce led me to take up knitting again.

Knitting led me to knitblogging.

Knitblogging led me to Felicia.

Felicia led me to knit group.

Meeting this group of people has enriched my life beyond anything I expected or even dreamed about. They're more than a knit group. They're my friends.

And for that, I am thankful.

posted by Kathy at 11/24/2005 11:54:00 PM | 3 comment(s)

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Life, in a nutshell.

To quote one of my favorite websites: I am Lost's bitch.

Damn. Tonight's episode was good. At the end when Vincent started running towards Michael I just lost it. Throw in Bernard/Rose, Jin/Sun and Sayid carrying Shannon's body and I admit it: I was bawling like a baby. I love this show!

I'm staring at a four day weekend. How can I convey my happiness? I don't think there are words. Here is what I'm doing this weekend:

weekend

Knitting, wine and movies. . . . . . . what else does a girl need?

I'm going to be a hermit this weekend. I will leave home on Saturday, when Felicia teaches us how to cable, but beyond that I am holing up at home and enjoying life.

posted by Kathy at 11/23/2005 09:20:00 PM | 2 comment(s)

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Finally, it's done.

Purple and Green bag

What: Purple and Green felted bag
Yarn: 1.5 skeins of Crazy Monkey Creations yarn
Needles: 10.5
Pattern: my own
Lesson Learned: Take note of the circumference of the bag you're knitting. Otherwise, you get something resembling a wine bottle carrier.
Destination: Me

I must be the most unobservant knitter in the world. I didn't realize how skinny this bag was until it was pointed out to me at knit group yesterday.

In fact, before the felting occurred, this bag looked just like a condom. Reservoir tip included.

Like all of my bags, I don't know how I'll use this bag, but I will. I always use my bags. I'm addicted.

posted by Kathy at 11/20/2005 05:37:00 PM | 5 comment(s)

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine.

Have you been thinking about going to see Walk The Line?

Stop thinking about it and go see it.

I went into the movie with guarded expectations. I expected the movie to gloss over Johnny's drug and alcohol problems and show a perfect romance with June. I was wrong on both accounts. The movie showed the early years of Johnny's life, warts and all.

The most pleasant surprise was the performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. They didn't imitate Johnny and June, they truly became them.

This is a movie I look forward to adding to my DVD collection.

Why, what's that?

Luci's scarf


What: Luci's Scarf
Yarn: One skein of Lion Brand Chenille Thick & Quick in the color Terra Cotta
Needles: 11
Pattern: Garter stitch
Lesson Learned: Zippo
Destination: Luci

The story behind the project:

My co-worker, Luci, gave me this yarn. She said she bought it because she loved the color, but realized that she'd never learn to knit the scarf that she wanted to make with it. (Damn, is that a run on sentence or what?) I offered to teach her to knit, but she wasn't interested. She just wanted the yarn to go to someone who would enjoy it. So, I took the yarn home, knitting up this quick scarf and surprised her with it the next day!

The Green and Purple felted bag is finished:

Purple and green bag before felting


It's felted and is dry. I just have to attach the straps and I'll have FO pics.

And for my nags:

Check out our Frappr!


Needle drive

posted by Kathy at 11/20/2005 02:36:00 PM | 2 comment(s)

Friday, November 18, 2005

If it's Friday, I must be feasting.

It's time for Friday's Feast!

Appetizer
When do you feel impatient?
I'm a very impatient person so this happens a lot. I get most impatient when I have to stand in line. I detest standing in line and do everything I can to avoid it.

Salad
How many times in your life have you had a broken heart?
Three.

Soup
Name a book you would like to see made into a movie.
I'm not a big fan of books being made into movies, so I don't have an answer.

Main Course
If you could thank one teacher for what they taught you, who would it be and what would you thank them for?
My ninth grade biology teacher. Up until that point, I HATED science. She made me see why science is so fascinating. Even though I don't use my Wildlife Biology degree, I still love science and hope to one day return to working in that field.

Dessert
What is your favorite kind of pie?
It's a tie between pumpkin and peanut butter.

Don't forget!!

My map:
Check out our Frappr!

Needle drive.

posted by Kathy at 11/18/2005 06:09:00 AM | 0 comment(s)

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

I am such a lemming.......

I've seen this on many blogs and think it's a cool way to see where people are out in blog land. I also love maps. Seriously. If you ever want to shut me up, hand me an atlas.

Anywho, would you please take a second and mark yourself on my map?

I will post knitting pics soon. There's just not much to post. I'm obsessed with my felted bags and since they're still being knit, they just look like big globs of yarn.

I've also been lazy about taking pictures lately. Yup, the winter laziness is setting in already!

posted by Kathy at 11/15/2005 10:32:00 PM | 2 comment(s)

Monday, November 14, 2005

A great start!

Just a reminder: the needle drive for Warm The World is an ongoing project here at Runs With Needles.

I'm going to send 26 pairs of needles off to Nan this week. Thank you to Birdsong,Christy, Felicia and Melissa for making this possible!

These ladies have been entered in the drawing for hand dyed yarn from Crazy Monkey Creations. Well, I didn't enter Christy in the drawing. It is her yarn so I figure she can just dye some for herself. :)

I haven't decided on a date for the big yarn drawing, but I will be giving away at least three skeins of yarn. If you're good at the maths, you'll see that I have three people entered in the drawing. This really isn't going to be suspenseful...... Why don't you donate some needles (even one pair!) and give these ladies some competition?

Nan also needs yarn, so if you have any yarn in your stash that you know you'll never use, please consider donating it to Warm The World.

posted by Kathy at 11/14/2005 08:26:00 PM | 5 comment(s)

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Extreme Blog Makeover

Last night I sat down to tweak a couple of things in my sidebar.

Too many hours later, I revamped the entire thing.

Besides the obvious, I changed my sidebar around.

I added a Flickr badge of my finished projects. Every FO I've ever knit is in here. Along with yarn, needles and pattern details. The badge will also take you to my Flickr account. So, if you're looking for puppy pictures or cool weather pictures, you can find them there.

I also trimmed the number of blogs listed on my sidebar. I have 218 feeds in Bloglines. For my sidebar, I'm showing the ones that I read daily. I've also split out my knit group blogs. So, if you want to stalk us, it's a bit easier.

Finally, if you see something wonky, could you please let me know? I'm an html novice, so am pretty much flying by the seat of my pants. It all looks good to me, but I'm pretty bleary eyed from staring at this damn template!

I've got many things I need to post. I'm so behind! But, for today, I will be knitting. It's cold and windy. I've got the space heater cranked up and the DVD's ready, so I'm heading for the couch!



Update: Monday 11/14/05 8:15am
I just checked the blog from work, on Internet Explorer, and it appears that my sidebar is wonky in IE. I checked it at home in Firefox, Opera and Netscape and it looks fine. So, sorry to the IE users. Perhaps it's time to upgrade to a better browser. :)

posted by Kathy at 11/13/2005 01:45:00 PM | 7 comment(s)

Thursday, November 10, 2005

When the gales of November came early




November 10th is a date that's burned into my memory.

30 years ago today, the Edmund Fitzgerald sank.

If you're not a Michigander I'm sure you're staring at your screen right now thinking "huh?".

Since I moved to Colorado, I have not found one person who's ever heard of the Fitz.

At first, this was odd to me. When I lived in Michigan, November 10th was always marked with at least a brief news story and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was always heard on the radio.

If you've never heard of the Fitz, it's a mysterious and haunting story.

Or, maybe you have to be from Michigan to feel this way.

Regardless, here are some links about the Fitz and what happened 30 years ago tonight.

Overview from CNN.

The best detailed site I've found about the Fitz .

This site takes the lyrics of the song and uses them to describe what actually happened. .

Another good overview of the shipwreck, as well as information on recovery of the ship's bell.

posted by Kathy at 11/10/2005 11:27:00 AM | 7 comment(s)

Friday, November 04, 2005

If it's Friday, it's time to Feast

Due to the lack of knitting pictures, this post will consist solely of Friday's Feast.


Appetizer
What was the last game you purchased?
Wow. I have no idea. I think it was some card game I bought with my ex.



Soup
Name something in which you don't believe.
God.



Salad
If you could choose a television personality to be your boss, who would you pick?
A television personality? Does that mean a news reporter or someone like that? Lame question. Next!



Main Course
What was a lesson you had to learn the hard way?
Trust me my gut.



Dessert
Describe your idea of the perfect relaxation room.
A warm room with a fireplace and lots of windows. Comfy furniture and the wall lined with books. A cozy chair for knitting.


Friday's Feast wasn't so great today. My apologies. A knitting post will occur this weekend.

Hopefully.

posted by Kathy at 11/04/2005 10:50:00 AM | 2 comment(s)