We! Are! The! Champions!

Six, as in one more than five, as in the number of Super Bowls won by the World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers! Not 42, although that number may have a special & dear meaning to fans of Douglas Adams. Oh wow, Namath's presenting the trophy. Mike Tomlin sounds like a teenager, "Uh...uh..". Santonio Holmes!!!! My Dad is the hub of our Super Bowl activity, he & I were calling back & forth, and on the last call he told he'd just talked to both my younger sibs. We'll do it again next year.

On the knitting front, I'm nearing the end of the Bobbled Tam (mostly because I'm almost out of the yarn!). I think this may be a very bad match of pattern & yarn, as the thing looks like the afterbirth of a large ruminant mammal. I'm about to throw in the towel on this one. But I'm kind of curious as to what it might look like blocked, so I guess I'll continue. I may have to head back to the store for some more of the yarn.


DiscoDame got her Eyelet Scarf & Hat, but none of the office-bound knits went to the office. Oh well, next year!

A Slow Start

It's 12:04, I got outta bed at 7 a.m. and I'm still in my nighty,robe & slippers. I have about 18 errands I wanted to run on today, and I'm off to a slow start. I blame Ravelry...I joined two more groups today. But seriously, I've got to get going. Just a quickie post to say I'm still alive, still knitting and still wondering how long the hungry slug a.k.a. Disco Dame will be eating me out of house and home. Went out to the local meat 'n three last night, she ordered the grilled salmon dinner while I ate chicken livers. I told my dad ("Pup") about her dinner, and he said she must think she's rich since she's got $400. I had to tell him that no, she thinks I'm rich: her dad & I paid for the salmon dinner!

Best wishes

Merry Christmas! or whichever winter solstice holiday you celebrate. Warm regards from the buckle of the Bible Belt, Nashville Tennessee. We're all still in housecoats & slippers here, playing with the gifts we've given each other. No Monet print calendar for me this year; for 2009 I'll be looking at the World Champion (in my mind, at least!) STEELERS! And I got a very nice Steelers logo jacket, too! And absolutely nothing having to do with yarn. Kinda surprising, since the past occasions when yarny goodies were presented were really super. I got gifted with a cute teapot, sugar & creamer set; unfortunately the giver didn't open the box in the store & the sugar bowl's borked. So that part of it will have to go back to the store for a replacement. And I bought myself another cute teapot. I collect 'em. I also like tea, so sometimes I actually use them. I've been meaning to make a few tea cozies; there are some cute patterns out there.

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Well, this was supposed to get some pics & go up before Christmas, but I got busy & the blog fell by the wayside. So! Happy New Year!! Part of the busy-ness I was going through had to do with Plaidman's health: He started having severe pain in his back, and with his history of kidney stones it wasn't too hard to figure what might be happening. Of course, he suffers for two weeks before he decides he's gotta get some medical attention....and pisses & moans the whole damn time. After visits to no less than 4 different medical facilities, his diagnosis is back strain -- he pulled a muscle. I'm about to pull my hair out, over his $*&%^#( pulled muscle. Of course, I carried knitting to every facility, 'coz I'm still working on DiscoDame's lovely alpaca scarf. The plan is to have it for her by 12th Night, and it's 33" long now, and I may be able to get the other 27" from the 2nd skein! Which would leave me two skeins for another (MINE!) use. Yahoo!

Weird vibes

I want everyone, not just the handful of folks reading this, but the entire world to read the Yarn Harlot's "Fallen..." blog entry. Make sure you all visit the bathroom first, though; I won't bear responsibility for any accidents. I laughed like, 4 times while I read it, then laughed again while the DiscoDame read it, and again while Plaidman read it. It's so funny because it just sounds like something the Plaidman & I would get ourselves into, and I know I'd laugh the whole time.

I wish I could stay awake & alert longer during the week; I actually made notes on Monday about things I wanted to mention here. Of course, it's now Friday evening, and I have no idea where my notes are...But I do recall that The Shoe Thrower was gonna be a feature. I kinda cracked up when one newscaster mentioned that "in that region" throwing shoes at someone was an expression of contempt. YA THINK!?!?!? Hey, newsnerd, I suspect it means the same thing pretty much wherever it occurs. And WTF was the Secret Service doing, that this guy was actually able to pitch the second shoe at our President? Uh, fellas, he was throwing stuff at the Chief Exec! What if there had been something other than stankfoot inside either of those shoes? (Be afraid, be very afraid: President Cheney!!!!) What you want to bet those agents are working in the "company" carwash now.

In my last post, I mentioned the possibility that I'd spend more time crocheting. Well, I found the cutest free patterns on Annie's Attic (they have a new one daily!), for tiny crocheted stockings. They're ornament-sized, and just adorable. I wonder how quickly they work up? I'd still like to give handmade gifts to my co-workers, even if the gifts are just tiny things. Ornaments would be cute. I've also thought about making some of the Minutia sweater ornaments from the Berroco website. Oh, and I finished my reg & green slippers! and they are long enough, and come up high enough on my ankles, that I skipped the crochet mesh & I-cord lacing around the ankle. I've been wearing them all week. I should be wearing them now. I'm still working on DiscoDame's scarf (the hat's done), but I've finished the Wool-Ease hat for Plaidman, and started another in a different color. So, what have you been up to?

Now with 15% more crafty-ness!

I have forgotten to mention the finished crochet project! All 5 new, super-size granny square stockings were delivered to Donna K, and I collected $30/each! I have pics in the camera, but haven't loaded them into the 'puter yet. Unfortunately, the pics were taken in the late evening, indoors--so they're pretty crappy. Justice is not done to the fabulousness of my granny square stockings. But Ms. Donna was pleased, and I had some fun making them. In fact, I had so much fun that it reminded me of why I like crochet, and I may wind up doing more of that in the future.


The Plaidmobile should (cross fingers, knock on wood!) be ready for pick up this afternoon, if the shop wasn't just blowing smoke up the Plaidman's arse. We took the rental car back last Monday (that wound up costing us as much as our deductible on the car insurance), and have gone an entire week with just one car. So no Sit'N Stitch this week, and very few extracurricular activities at all. And this is truly the BEST TIME OF YEAR to have massive added expenses... I was soooo happy to get paid for the crochet stockings, I told Donna that now I could go grocery shopping--I wasn't kidding! But I think she thought I was, or hoped I was.

I still haven't gotten the Wool Ease Thick N Quick I need for the Plaidman's hat; if I can get DiscoDame up & moving I'll head over to the Hobby Lobby. Yes, I know Angel Hair Yarns is going out of business & has a huge sale, but I don't think they carry Wool Ease. Speaking of the DD, she's been commenting on my blog--as if we don't speak regularly or something! I wouldn't mind seeing some other comments too--I have been making a point of commenting on some of the other blogs I read, so maybe someone will return the favor. But lordy, I only have time for surfing the innerwebs on the weekends! Somebody needs to bring high-speed access to Joelton, TN! Actually, I haven't checked for hi-speed in a while, so maybe someone did? Hope springs eternal.....

Need that fine adjustment tool....

For some unknown (to me, anyway) reason, all the stuff in my sidebar got moved to the bottom of the page. This happened a while back, and I've had my tech support (DiscoDame)looking into getting the sidebar back to the side. I've had to offer her actual money (!!!) for this assistance, and have no earthly idea when she'll either fix it or give up. Stay tuned for developments...

In the knitting news, I've started yet another pair of the funky slippers. These are in Christmas red & green, 1 strand each, worsted wt acrylic. I'm knitting both at the same time on sz 9 14" plastic needles. I've modified the sides by adding two stitches each side, so they'll rise higher on my ankle--yes, they're mine! The last pair I made were supposed to be mine, but are too short & I don't want to futz with taking them apart. I intend to knit the newest pair to 8" from cast on before I start the toe decreases, and by working both at the same time I hope to eliminate the unequal lengths I've been getting on all the previous pairs. AND there's more Christmas knitting: The Dame needs a "real" nice hat & scarf, so I'm making a set for her in brushed alpaca--YUM! What lovely stuff it is! Absolutely feather light, but oh so warm. I sure hope she takes good care of it. The Plaidman needs a seriously warm hat too. We found an appropriate pattern, but I'll need some Wool Ease -- yarn shopping!! Yippee!

I have about given up on the idea of handknits for all in my dept. at work -- that's 18 people, folks! And I'm just one knitter, running out of time. So what to do with the few pieces I've finished? I'm real tempted to store them for next year, & just say I got an early start. Why not? Because it feels like cheating, I guess. I think I can get over it, though.

The Pupster called Thanksgiving day, & I have not yet responded. I'm a baaaad daughter, I know. But geez, if you could hear the message he left--he sounded half stoned. He was visiting some friends, and I guess they got him hammered. Sure hope they let him stay the night! I should call.

More fun than.....

My fingers are gonna fall off! I have been working on the Big Crochet Project, and it's just wearing me out. Current status: all squares made, & an extra round of half-double crochet worked on each (of 50!)square to bring them up to the same size as the model. Eight sides stitched up, 5 squares each. Six & a half sides have edging applied. So what's left to do? Stitch together the last two sides, and finish edging on 3.5, THEN WORK IN ENDS, then crochet the sides together to get 5 stockings, and make a topping for each. Whew! I have been seriously busy with this project, but did take the time to head downtown for the Veterans' Day Parade, with DiscoDame along for the ride. She was in charge of the camera, check it out:
And this one (we knew these guys were approaching...):

Lots of vehicles with lights & sirens, some marching bands (White's Creek was the sharpest group--GO COBRAS!!). It was fun, and patriotic. We stood on the sidewalk in front of the First Baptist Church, and the daycare was turned out to watch the parade--what cuties! We thought it might be best not to take their pictures, but enjoyed their reactions to all the fun.
Speaking of fun, guess what the Plaidman did on Wednesday? He hit a deer! He & DiscoDame were coming home from the library, it's already pitch dark, and a &*#^&$ buck jumps out of the ditch right in front of the Neon. Fortunately, neither of them are hurt; but the buck's hind legs are both broken. Poor thing tried to get up, tried to drag itself the rest of the way across the street. The lady in the car behind the Neon pulled over, got out & tried to guide the beastie back to the ditch. Some folks living near came out, then went back home & got a firearm to finish off the buck---and took it home for supper! I'm glad it didn't go to waste, but I kinda wish I knew how to butcher a deer. Anyway, we're down to one car and playing phone tag with the insurance estimator. Wish us luck.