Pattern: A Bastardization of Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's Willamsbro.

Yarn: Encore

What I Didn't Do: Read the directions all the way through before starting, nor did I look at the picture closely and neither did I comprehend that the contrast yarn was suppose to be a weight or two up from the main. I cast on with the contrast without realizing that the contrast was added later, by picking up stitches along the bottom and knitting in stockinette. So there I was, in the contrast part, cabling along with the main color part and when I realized the error of my cables, I decided I was keeping it as is. I also changed the cable pattern, on purpose.

Please excuse the jammies and the unwashed face and electric hair. With the temps hovering at 147 degrees below zero, in the shade, it's been Sunday Morning 'round here, all day.

And no, she's not signing to her homies. That's just standard Cakers' Sunday- Morning-All-Day casual fare.

Snow Rest for the Dreary
I tried to capture a shot of the blizzardy Snow Devils blowing down the street, but apparently, like witches and vampires, their images cannot be captured.

So instead, I bring you Shiver Me Timbers:



Shiver you.
Shiver me.
Shiver shadows
From a tree.

P.S. Today's Finished Object is sponsored by Mission Possible '08.

Labels: Bad Poetry, Knit Done, Missionary Style '08

And The Nominees Are...

*

1) Gibknits. She's sweet, generous, talented, really talented and has a wonderful laugh. Okay, that last one you wouldn't necessarily know from just reading her blog, but now you do. Most important: She's my friend. And I Lurves Her.

2) Rabbitch. She's really funny. And kinda scary. And her name has Bitch. ::Can blog readers catch Stockholm Syndrome?::

3) Niksknits. Nik is someone I believe I would be instantly comfortable with, were we to meet in the real world. She's a clever designer, smart and funny, and never takes herself too seriously.

4) Reddogknits-I don't much care for the freckles on her but the horsemen knew her. 'Nuf said. And she draws a mean tampon wrapper.

5) Panopticon-Duh.

6) The Darwin Exception.-I found this blog last fall, on a google for a sewing tip. Somehow I didn't bookmark the site and lost her for awhile. She's got an interesting life going, that's for sure. Her observations and prose remind me a bit of Gwyn, of Woolly Mama fame. Check out her Neighbors category.

7) The Knitting Channel. I've been trying to come up with an apt, brief description of Betsy, and I'm not confident that I can do her justice, in abbreviated terms. But here goes anyway: a) She's a real fast knitter. b) She's a real good knitter. c) She loves knitting tams but she doesn't know why. c) She's lead a very interesting life and hints, at times, that it hasn't been all Peaches and Herb. d) She suffers no fools gladly, or at all for that matter. e) She has strength of character and f) a sense of humor and g)I think she is the kind of person I'd want by my side in the trenches h) which has nothing at all to do with the fact that f) She knows her way around an M16. ::I trust she was kidding about the cat thing.::

8) Sandy's Knitting. Sandy, Sandy, Sandy. She's genuinely upbeat and sweet, without a smidge of saccharine. Nope. All Chirp. No Urp. That's our Sandy.

9) Rachael. Rachael lives a rich life and I love how she paints it for us, through her writing. When I read her posts, I feel like I'm right there, soaking sunbeams with a critter, or having a cuppa joe on the porch. She is love.

10) JenLa. They are the heartbeat Knitblogistan.

Please Just Sleeve Me Alone





::This Mission Probable Possible stint is going to send me back into therapy. Maybe it's God's plan. To feed the therapists of the world with the remnants of what remains of what used to be a moderately intact psyche. I'm close to figuring it out though. I'll keep you posted.::

Souper Bowl Sunday



Cabana took to the kitchen this afternoon, and whipped up a pot of chicken rice soup. The recipe was pretty standard fare, except for the surprise element of fresh mint. It tasted kind of weird to me, at first. Not at all minty, but kind of licorice-y. However, after about 2.5 slurps, I was all about the weird. Yum.

Here's to an evening of tight ends and fresh balls.

*The rules are, if you're nominated, you pick 10 bloggers who make your day, and pass it on. You're supposed to leave every person a comment about the nomination. I prefer to just put it out there and nominees are free to do with it what they will.

Labels: Bad Sports Metaphors, MEME, Missionary Style '08, Sundry Sunday, The Horsemen Knew Her

Tuesday afternoon it was 47 degrees here, and pouring down rain.The forecast for Tuesday night, however, called for a sudden drop in temperature, snow, high winds and below zero wind chills.

The meteorologists were having a field day with this incoming band of dread. With each forecast update, there was chest beating, gong banging and foaming of the orifices.

And what was the cause of this above average weatherpeeps hyperfest?

A heavy coat of freshly fallen vernacular: Flash Freeze Warning.

I had never heard of this Thing Called Flash Freeze, and initially it brought to mind a vague, childhood memory of an instant coffee commercial.

Anyway. Because it was fairly warm, Bella had been in and out of the house all day Tuesday,likely to poop under the porch and look for other signs of spring, such as baby bunnies and bikini waxes. At 10:30 p.m., with a stunned look on her fur and artic winds at her ass, Bella darted into the house after Cheddar's last call.

That night I did not sleep well. The wind rattled the house and wracked windows with branches. When I did sleep, I was haunted by dreams of Flash Frozen Bellas, stuck on the lawn, like tiny Sphinxes on an Egyptian Tundra. Well, if the Egyptians had such a thing.

In one dream she was only semi-frozen, so could still meow a little. A couple of times I woke up with racing heart and the momentary belief that I had left my L'il Fluffinator outside to die. Once awake, I'd remember that she was indeed safe. Eventually I’d fall back to sleep, for another round of Fargo Bella.

Wednesday we had a snow day. Snow Day is Good. Usually. But a second Snow Day in a one week period? Not so good. At least for me. As I've said before, legally mandated timelines and deadlines do not know the Snow Day.

Tonight we're supposed to get up to 10 inches of new snow. And if another Snow Day is called,it will definitely be too much of a good thing.

Sometimes Too Much of a Good Thing is Just Right


Thank you Robbyn and Kat With a K, for the nominations.

Not only am I honored by the honor itself, but also by the mere association with such distinguished company of the other nominees. Thank you, again.

I'm still working on my list of nominations. It should be a simple thing to do, but I kind of like things complicated, ya know?

I just met Kat at the Franklin event, last Saturday. Distracted by the news of our local tragedy, I neglected to mention her in my last post. And Sharon. ::waving.:: And Eweniss ::Nice to meet you! And I'm really sorry I swore in front of your children. Really. ::

When it Rains, it Snows. When it Snows, I Knits.
I finished the back of Cakers Willams Step-Bro sweater. I hope to get sleeves done this weekend. It will be good to knock this one off my Mission Possible list.



This project has been like an annoying wad of toilet paper,in the sewage system of my mind. ::shut up.:: It starts off as a fairly innocuous slowdown. But pretty soon the other innocuous stuff backs up behind it, and, well,let's just say I'm looking forward to this particular dance with the plunger. And I apologize for the scary imagery of the inside of my mind.

Friday Morning Update: No Snow Day. Yay. I just hope Sharon can get off the ground today, for her trip to Cancun. I couldn't post this last night because Blogger was being a Booger.

Labels: MEME, Missionary Style '08, Snow Day, Yarn Yang

The Dull
F.O. F.O.
I bore to tears, I know.
But no dull Sheila
When I drink Tequila.
F.O. F.O.

Anyway.

This is a hat.



This is another hat.



I knit these hats Mission-ary style, out of the Noro Fuji-no-Mojo. They will be donated to a chemo cap drive.



The Girl Grown Fast
Remember this little Nugget?



I posted that picture my first year In-Blog. Would you believe that she is currently wrapping up a very successful, premier season as a Girl Scout Cookie representative? She even made a couple cold calls.

And last night we received the much awaited phone call, with the news that she was selected to be in her school's production of Alice in Wonderland, as Gardner No. 3::Over 100 students tried out for 24 roles.::

The Girl Grown Wise
About once a week, in lieu of reading a bedtime story, I lie down with Cakers on the bed for what we call "girl talk," wherein I ask her to share a snippet from her day, and then share a snippet from mine.

Tonight she told me some goofy thing one of her friends had done at school. When I asked her why her friend did that goofy thing, Cakers paused, sighed with just a hint of drama, and said "She doesn't think her brain."

Gardener No. 3: Clearly a force to be rakened with.

Labels: Bad Poetry, Charity Knits, Knit Done, Missionary Style '08, My Daughter Scares Me

Today's Eye Candy is courtesy of wetter and better times.



Rocks just wanna have fun.
Me too.

Is It Spring Break Yet?
My reentry into the world of work this week, has earned itself a Four-Prong rating on the Oyster-Fork-in-the-Eye universal rating system.

In addition to all the work stuff I cannot speak of ::none of said stuff appears to have taken any kind of holiday break.::, Tuesday night I broke and swallowed half of a large-ass molar. ::Umm, yeah.That would be from my own mouth.::

At the subsequent emergency dental appointment, the N00bish dental assistant wrote down the vitals as I shared them, including the part about the bigass hole in the back of my mouth, deep enough to be the start of a whole new world of gynecological possibilities.

She: Does it hurt?

Me: Not really, which kind of surprises me, because it’s a really big hole. And deep. And I haven’t been chewing on that side at all, on account of the big, deep hole. In my mouth. Where half a tooth used to be.

She: So, Marcia, what would you like to happen here today?

Me: ::Stunned silence. So many possibilities...Sarcasm? Smartass? Play along real stupid?::

She: What I mean is, what are you hoping for?

Me: World peace and someone to look at the crater in my mouth and tell me I’m not going to die? Today?

She: I think we can help you with that. ::pats my arm.::

It doesn't get any better than that.

2008 Mission-ary Style
Time not spent this week on my job or poking my tongue into the big hole in my mouth, was sucked up by the poking of my face into closets, cabinets and bins, in lining up my venue for this:



It originated as a Ravelry gig, but I'm pretty sure the un-Raveled can play along too. Read all about it here.

Another large chunk of time was spent on a related blow-by-blow blog lament, complete with details on each item. By the time I posted my intentions on the Ravelry group last night, I had lost all taste for talking about it, so consider yourself spared.

You're welcome.

Here's just a little mosiac of my intentions. I'll simply update as I get the missions accomplished.



p.s The mosiac and my Ravelry list do not jibe. I'm too tired to figure it out. I got some knitting to be getting to.

Labels: Dental Hijinx, eye candy Friday, Missionary Style '08

I'm still working on my Baby New Year post.
Well, I'm still thinkin' on workin' on it.
It's complicated, all this thinkin'.
And related linkin'.

Anyway.

When we went to the cottage, we left a half-baked Christmas clean-up in our wake, which continues to be a bake in process. The problem is that we need to make room for the new loot. And it's at this point that things are getting back logged.

For example, I got a new Dutch oven for Christmas. In the cupboard where that should go, are several coffee cups that go with my everyday dishes. In my everyday coffee cup cupboard are Christmas dish coffee mugs, plus about a dozen memorabilia mugs collected over the years (including two mugs we had made up from Cakers' friend's artwork last year.)

So, before I can put away the Dutch oven, I have to find a new home for about 15 useless coffee mugs. On that note, Cabana is at this moment, clearing seven years of shit out of two storage rooms. Some of this stuff was never unpacked from when I moved in with my new husband. I had lots of storage at my divorcee home. Cabana's house was smaller and already furnished with most household amenities, so I left most of my crap in boxes.

Two years later, when I had a Cakers in the oven, we moved again. This house had much more room, but with a pending Cakers and all related organizational preps, there was no time to sort through the unnecessary stuff. And then a baby happened and the rest is a bunch of crap in boxes. ::One such box is currently being rifled through before my very eyes, as I type, which is a hint in spades for me to get off the keyboard and start moving coffee cups. And not just the one I'm currently drinking from.::

Here's today's eye candy. Rotten Apples In Snow.



When I previewed this picture after uploading it, Cakers happened to be standing next to me.

"Do you think that picture is interesting?" she asked.

"Yes. Do you?" I said.

She paused, tilted her tangled head just a tad enough to indicate polite condescension, and said in an almost apologetic tone, "Not really." then walked away, shaking her head.

And on that uninteresting note, here's a snow covered outhouse.



::I hate to shithouse and run, but I just now saved two pieces of my son's preschool artwork from going to the trash. Bastid. Fuck the coffee cups. I gotta get to the basement and open a box of whoopass.::

Labels: eye candy Friday, MEME, Missionary Style '08, Yarn Yang

...Ogre Easy



Cakers brought this home from school today. I wish you could see his ghost-like skirted bottom, but he wouldn't all fit on the scanner.

I love this stuff.

I love picturing her picturing the picture in her fabulous mind, before putting it to paper.

I love wondering her wonder as to how wonderful it will be.

And the best part for me:

She has no idea how wonderful it is,
That wonderful that she is.

Labels: Dental Hijinx, eye candy Friday, MEME, Missionary Style '08, Yarn Yang