The News

Sorry, I just couldn't think of a wittier post title. Right, the big news.... On Monday take a little trip over to The Anticraft. I have a little surprise that you'll find there! I'm very excited! Sure, it's not knitting, but it is my other passion, beading. If you have worked with beads, or want to, now you can with my little project! Let me know what you think! I have also finished Knitty's Nautie. I think she's a cutie. Her name is Julsey. I used some leftover Lamb's Pride in medieval red and medium gray. I picked out the simple white buttons for eyes. Overall, this was a pretty fast knit. I knit her in about a week. I think I misread a couple of the directions, specifically for how to do the spiral, but it works. Now, I'm on the hunt for more toy patterns as I bought a ginormous bag of polyfiberfill and need toys to stuff them with. I wish I had a copy of Jess Hutchinson's toy book. Project Specs: Pattern: Nautie by Beth Skwarecki Yarn: Lamb's Pride in medium gray and medieval red Needles: Size 4 DPNs, aluminum Susan Bates ones I think. Mods: I made some inadvertant ones, such as working the spiral slightly differently. I also picked up stitches around the shell to make the face instead of knitting them separately. I think I'll just change colors next time to make it even easier. I also only made 7 tentacles instead of 8. I couldn't figure out where to place an 8th one where it would look normal. What I learned: I like making toys. I'm already madly searching for my next toy pattern. Also, don't you think this pattern could be modified to make a snail? I'm thinking yes... Julsey says, "Yo."

Wrapping up Project Spectrum April

Well, yellow and orange, it's been fun. You colors really know how to party. I know you sensed that your time here in Project Spectrum was coming to a close. How do I know this? Well, when I added a little bit of our next guest color, green, into my beading project along with you, orange, things got a little heated. You assured me everything would be fine. You and green look absolutely fabulous together in the tubular netting design. Your fiery and cheery nature really warmed up cool green. We ran into problems though, didn't we? I made two of these tubular netting components meaning to add the boro bead that you look so fabulous in. What happened then, orange? The design didn't hang together. Cutting my losses, I made you into a bracelet, and I think you and green look divine now. I guess I should take this as a lesson. Sometimes the best results are gained through an accident. Maybe you don't have it in for me. (You better not, as I'm knitting Rogue with you, Orange.) Maybe you and green just had better ideas. By the way, since my necklace idea didn't work, I have a second bracelet just like this one. If anyone is interested in it and wears, or knows someone who needs a gift who wears, a 7 inch bracelet, let me know. I'd be up for a swap. A quick knitting update is in order. I've divided Roge into a front and back. I'm allowing myself the month of May to finish her. Rogue will be ready in time for the heat of the summer! Ugh. We've finally had some gorgeous weather here. I'm thinking it's time to start thinking about summer knits. Also, Nautie is coming along quite well. Her face is a dark red, which I think looks really great with the medium gray shell. I'm heading to JoAnn's to look for buttons for her eyes today. I'm also itching to start some socks again. We'll see what will happen with that. I've got some big news too! I'll share more in a couple of days. Trust me, it's good stuff.

What up, Home Skillets!

I read a short article in the latest Good Housekeeping that gave a run down of the current teen lingo. Apparently, the new word for friend, is "home skillet." Now, I'm not sure what this comes from. I do think it's kind of funny though. The other one that tickled the funny bone was "chillaxin", as in "Hey home skillet! What you doin?" "Just chillaxin' G" Heh heh. Yes, I'm easily amused. RM and I saw Walk the Line a couple of weekends ago, and I've had Johnny Cash music on the brain ever since. I grew up listening to a lot of different music. My mother loves Motown. I listened to a lot of the Temptations, The Four Tops, etc. My dad, on the other hand, really likes Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, bluegrass, you get the idea. Highly amusing to see a Chinese man who grew up in San Francisco like his old-time country. Anyway, Walk the Line brought back all of that music. I had a similar experience after seeing Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. So inspired by the Man in Black, I've written a song for you all. If you know the Johnny Cash song "Folsom Prison Blues" you can sing along. Frog Pond Blues I hear a swift a comin’; it’s spinning ‘round and round again, And I ain’t seen a knittin’ needle since I don’t know when. I’m stuck in the old frog pond and I keep unravelin’ on. See that swift keeps pulling out my stitches until I’m all gone. When I was just cast on stitches, my knitter told me, “Wool, Always be true to gauge, and don’t split cause that’s not cool.” But I sagged and broke and snarled just to see my knitter cry. When I hear that swift whirring, I just hang my head and sigh. I bet there’s DK weight merino on her needles now. She’s fondling sock yarn, and holding cotton to her cool brow, But I know I had it comin’, I know I can’t be that cute cardi, But she’s knitting up some novelty, and that’s what tortures me. Well, if I was freed from this frog pond, if those knitting needles were mine, I bet I’d knit myself into an heirloom aran in no time, Far, far from the frog pond, that’s where I’d like to stay, Before that swift rips all my stitches away. Hope you all enjoyed it! If Nautie had a face, he'd be smilin'

I was wrong... so wrong

About 6 months ago, I left a comment on Christie's blog. She was planning on knitting an all over cable sweater pattern, the name escapes me at the moment. I told her that I thought she was crazy. All those cables? No way. This was before I tried cables. The whole idea was very intimidating. A short half and year later and I'm crazy about cables. I'm in love with my Twist sweater, and this Rogue hoodie... It's a divine knit, that's all I'm sayin'. I think I've also become a yarn sniffer. Honestly I never understood the appeal of smelling yarn. This Jaeger Shetland Aran has a really pleasing wooly scent though. I've been pausing frequently to bury my nose in the ball and taking a big sniff. Lovely... I also decided to participate in the handwriting meme that's been going around blogville. Write a pangram on a piece of paper, sign your first name, take a photo of it, and load it onto your blog or upload into the flickr pool. Can you believe the atrocious handwriting? Do you pity my students a little? The only thing worse than the handwriting is my drawing skills. Peals of laughter would fill my classroom when I drew out a diagram of how the ancient world saw heaven, earth, and sheol (underworld/hell of the ancient Hebrews).

Bounty of Riches

My mail contained a bounty of riches yesterday. I just have to share. I received the last Felted SP package and learned who my spoilee is! It's Illanna from Knit Powers to Peace! She has been a fantastic pal sending me malabrigo and big Kureyon, but this last package, wow... She sent me the book One Skein, which I've been eyeing for a while and organized the rest of the package around the theme. Each ball of yarn is labeled with a pattern that I could make out of the book. Isn't that clever? She also included some sock yarn, and an adorable knit cupcake that she made for me using a pattern from the book. Thanks so much Illanna! You are the best! I also received an unexpected package from Kim. I designed a few blog buttons for her and she sent me a thank you gift of a summer knitting bag, yarn for a summer tank or bag, a bookmark, notepad, magnet, eye mask, chocolate, and a couple of cute toys for my children. Thanks Kim! You are too kind! I also got a chance (compelled) to make up the other beading kit that Jill sent me. Here is a Chinese Lantern charm made from swarovski crystal beads. Pretty, huh? I ended up not using the head and eye pins included in the kit, and went with my own wirework on the dangle. I am going to make a million of these things. I can feel the mania setting in. It's been so much fun to do some beadwork again, specifically a bead weaving project. I do like basic stringing projects, but there's just something about holding a beading needle and thread (or in this case fishing line) and working small beads into something beautiful. It felt comfortable and right. It felt a little like coming home. I feel the same way about knitting, actually. The feeling of knitting needles and yarn flowing through my fingers is very relaxing and comforting. So is the feeling of beading needles, and the beads. I think I need to bead more. Which brings me to a question. Most of you who read this blog love to knit. What other activities and hobbies feel like home to you? What is it about these activities that feels so right and comfortable?

Potato chip beading

When you can't make just one... The beadwork was feeling the love today as I worked up one of the temari ball kits that Jill sent me. The kit uses size 11/0 seed beads and swarovski bicone crystals. Jill sent me the stuff to make these into a cell phone charm, but I'm thinking about putting it on some cording and making myself a necklace out of it. Isn't it pretty? I'm already thinking about different color schemes, and using different beads shapes to change the look. Imagine the use of swarovski pearls... What would it look like if I used Czech firepolish beads instead... What about using cat's eye fiberoptic beads... You see where I'm going with this. She also sent me this awesome beading book. There are some truly interesting designs in it that I will be trying soon. I also think I've finally decided on the off loom bead weaving stitch I'm going to use to complement that orange and green boro bead I posted about a last week. I'm thinking of doing a tubular netting. I'm also really enjoying the Rogue knit. I thought I'd show you where I am right now. The body is going fairly quickly. I'm starting to understand the logic of the cable chart, and recognizing the chart symbols more readily. The Jaeger Shetland Aran is showing off the cables quite nicely I think, and it feels fairly soft. Speaking about Rogue, I took her to go get new tires on my husband's car. Due to a connection my husband's friend had, I ended up at a wheel place that mostly sells custom rims. I think tires are really an afterthought. Anyway, the guys working there were very nice, but the showroom looked a little like a cross between American Chopper and Pimp my Ride. They had this incredible large aquarium, with skulls and other stuff like that decorating the inside. They had two couches in the showroom. One was a leopard print chaise lounge. The other, the one I sat on, was red velveteen with two pillow, both featuring playing card suits. So I head into the showroom to wait for the tires and pull out my Rogue and my ipod shuffle. I'm knitting away in there, snickering to myself. I totally messed with this place's street cred. Oh, and for those of you wondering, all is well with the house. Things are fixed, and we're all set until the next crisis. :)

One Things Leads to Another

Do any of you remember the song by the FIXX, "One thing leads to another?" Well, I've decided, after dealing with home repair in two houses now, that nothing could be truer. On the whole, being in this newer house has been much less of a headache than our first house. We bought our first house six years ago. Since we didn't have a lot of money, we bought a fixer upper. This house had potential to be a nice little starter home, but it had no curb appeal, and had suffered from lots of deferred maintenance. In five years we relandscaped both the front and back yards, replaced fencing, replaced a front door, upgraded the electrical box, put in a new HVAC, among other things. Every thing we did to house would open another problem that needed to be fixed first. We learned that the basic fix cost about a thousand dollars, and the big stuff, significantly more. This leads me to the house we now live in. We love our home. We love our neighborhood. In the scheme of things that we had to do to our old house, this one has been a dream. But, since Christmas, we've had to do a lot of work on it. On Christmas the sink disposal blew. We also learned that our furnace needed service and the ductwork needed to be sealed. Last month, the water heater had to be replaced. Now a valve needs to be replaced under one of the sinks. How does one thing lead to another in this latest episode? Well, in the process of fixing the valve and a running toilet, I noticed that a small lead started where the toilet meets the floor in one of the bathrooms. Yep, I'm going to need to get that fixed too. The joys of home ownership. Now, what does any of this have to do with knitting or beading? Well, I was going to bead last night, especially since Jill, who is a bead temptress as well as a fiber one, sent me a wonderful package full of kits to make temari balls. The house stuff has so messed with my mind, that I just couldn't concentrate on the beadwork, and I ended up knitting for a couple of hours last night on Rogue. I love this pattern! Of course I don't have any WIP pics because I just couldn't get it together, but trust me, the Jaeger Shetland Aran is nice to work with, and the burnt orange color shows the cables well. You'll just have to take my word on it. Since I couldn't leave a totally pictureless post, here's a pic of the yarn I dyed for the Project Spectrum Yarn Swap. I used Wilton's Cake dyes and think it turned out pretty well. My swap pal, Tara seemed to like it.

Peeps, an Easter tradition

I hope that those of you who celebrate Easter had a peaceful one. We had a lot of fun today, despite the rain. We had a fun egg hunt, a yummy breakfast prepared by RM, and a pleasant Easter dinner with my parents. A good time was had by all. Now, the big question: did I finish my Peeps socks by Easter? Why, yes! Yes I did! Check them out! I love them. While I don't care if my handpaint socks match, I do like my self patterning socks to match. I think I did a decent job with these. I half made up my own pattern by using a simple seed stitch rib stitch from the booklet, Ribbing Plain and Fancy. I'm now realizing, that essentially I knit Thuja on fingering weight yarn. I love these socks! They are so cheery, spring-like and just scream Easter! Don't they look like the Peeps I bought? Project Stats: Pattern: My own using the simple seed stitch rib pattern from Ribbing Plain and Fancy Yarn: Knitpicks Simple Stripes in Sweet Tart Needles: I meant to use magic loop for these, but it didn't happen. I used my old standby of size 1 brittany DPNs. Magic Loop will be learned next pair I think. What I learned: It really isn't my imagination! I do knit the second sock faster than the first. It took me 2 1/2 weeks to do the first one, and 6 days to knit the second one. I've cast on for my Orange Rogue. The twisted knit stitches for the hem facing is going so slowly. I want to get to the cables!!!

As long as there is a smoldering charcoal briquet...

on the BBQ of justice... Occasionally kid shows really crack me up. We saw a Fairly Oddparents today that was a play on the old Adam West Batman series. Some of the dialogue was priceless. I do feel a little like a super knitter with my new cape, erm, I mean, Clapotis! Here she is in all her glory! There's not a lot new to say about the knit other than I love it. The knitting of it was a bit boring, but the finished result is quite pretty. I felt similarly about the Ruffles scarf, actually. The one new thing about my Clapper, is that I used the yarn that I hand-dyed using Grape and Strawberry Kool-Aid. I'm wondering of the blue Kool-Aid and Grape would be just as nice... Project Stats: Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert Yarn: Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Natural, 3 skeins, dyed with Grape and Strawberry Kool-Aid Needles: Size 8 straight Bryspuns. I love these needles. The tips make it so easy to purl and knit into the back loop nonesense. Modifications: I only knit 10 repeats in the straight section instead of 13 as I was running out of yarn. The finished product is plenty big. What I learned: 100% wool can be very sticky. It took a lot of prodding to get the stitches to run. Here's a close-up of the colors and stitch pattern. You can see the difference in color intensity. It doesn't really bother me, as I dyed the yarn myself. For some reason, I'm so happy with the dye job, that the color intensity doesn't bother me as much as it would have if I had bought the yarn already dyed. In other news, I received my yarn from the Project Spectrum Yarn Swap from Tara! Isn't it gorgeous! It reminds me of the beautiful coat of my tabby cat. Tara is very talented and is starting her own store. Check her out! I sent her yarn in the swap this month, and we couldn't have ended up with more different takes on orange and yellow. Mine resembled more of a tequila sunrise, and hers is very tiger-like. Too cool. I also received my postcard from the Project Spectrum Postcard swap. I love this swap as I've met such creative people. Last month was Teresa, and this month I've gotten to know Claudia. Claudia lives in Germany and sent me a great card/kit to make orange and yellow bunnies for my kids' Easter! Check 'em out! I had to make them right away. She seems equally pleased with what I sent her, origami kites. She's very into Japanese crafts. I'm really looking forward to continuing to read and email these two ladies and meet someone new next month! For those who celebrate, have a peaceful Easter.

Raindrops keep falling on my head

But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red... Sorry for the music moment. The rain continued through the night, and I'm so ready for it to be over. According to yahoo weather, it'll clear up next week. Thank Goodness! SWB has been thirsting for sunny weather so that he can play outside. I've been hoping for sun for the same reason. Cooped up children and rainy weather is not fun. Thanks to all who empathized with us! We are feeling better. Yesterday started out with more of the same. We ended up at Kaiser with PQL for something known as nursemaid's elbow. She's fine now, and we now know how to keep it from happening again, but it was scary. The rest of the day was fun though. I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures of the finished Clapotis yet. The weather has not cooperated for taking nice pictures. This weekend I will try to get a good picture of them and hopefully my Peeps socks. Here's my Wikipedia meme answers to entertain you though. The mission was to do a Wikipedia search of my birthdate without the year and list three events, three births, and three deaths. Here goes. Events: 1920: The US postal service rules that children may not be sent parcel post. 1935: In one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, James Braddock defeats Max Bauer to win the world heavyweight championship (Cinderella Man) 2004: A 4 kg meterorite hits the house of the Archer's in Ellerslie, New Zealand destroying the roof and a couch. Births: 1865: William Butler Yeats 1928: John Forbes Nash (A Beautiful Mind) 1974: Steve-O from MTV's Jackass Deaths: 1965: Martin Buber 1986: Benny Goodman 1987: Geraldine Page Ok, here are a couple of thoughts. I found it strange that I had two people in my Wiki search that have been portrayed by Russell Crowe in a movie. Also, how embarassing to share a birthdate with Steve-O, a man who will snort wasabi for America's amusement.

Ever have one of those days...

Today was exhausting, and I can't even go to sleep. Usually, if one member of the family is having one of those days, the rest of us are doing ok. Today, we all were having one of those days. It wasn't pretty. The day started innocently enough. My son had a good morning at his speech preschool, PQL and I had a good time running some errands. But as the rain settled in once again (I'm so sick of the rain, people), so did all the good feelings. First, PQL got tuckered out from all the running around we did while SWB was at school. I think she's teething too, one of the canines. She cried all the way home. Now, those of you who have kids, or have been around little ones know that being in a car with an inconsoleable toddler is not fun. SWB kept trying to make her feel better, but everything he tried caused her to cry louder. To make matters worse, I managed to get behind every slow driver on the planet. A truck with a trailer even blocked a whole lane right in front of me. So we get home, have lunch, and I put PQL in bed for a nap. SWB decides he wants to rest too. This is good. I'm getting things done, my Clapotis for example. I look outside again, and realize it's raining pretty steadily now. SWB has his first ever swim lesson in the afternoon. Hmmm.... Everyone gets up. PQL is in a much better mood. We snack, change and head out to the swim lesson. It rains the entire way there. We get out to the pool, and SWB doesn't want to get in. This is an outdoor pool, well heated, but outdoors. I'm in jeans and a coat, at the edge of the pool, coaxing a now screaming SWB to just put his feet in the water. By the end of the class, he didn't venture any farther in the water, but he stopped crying. I, on the other hand, was wet and had a rapidly expanding headache. After the busy day, I had a meeting for SWB's regular preschool. I'm on the board. It was 3 hours long and now I can't sleep. Late meetings always amp me up. Tomorrow's bound to be a better day, right? At least I have a completed Clapper to where for Easter...

As 40 days for others comes to a close...

I can show you what I've been working on. I pledged to complete 4 afghan squares for the Knit the Classics afghan which is to donated to Warm the World. I used some leftover Wool-Ease in a pretty red brown. Our squares needed to be bordered with white yarn so our squares would have a common theme. I used some Red Heart to crochet an edge on each square. After completing the crochet edge, I went to Amazon and took the new Stoller crochet book off the wishlist. Crochet is not for me. I'm so slow at it. It took me so long to so a simple border it was pitiful. Now it's on to finishing up my Peeps socks for Easter and assembling the kidlets Easter bags. I bought some cute denim totes, and will be ironing on a patch onto each before filling the bags with Easter goodies. I've also bought way more Easter egg dye than I actually need. I plan on doing some yarn dyeing with the extras. As for my Project Spectrum project... Well, I'm planning on starting Rogue once the berry fountain soda Clapotis is done, but I also dug out a lovely borosilicate art bead, and will be creating a necklace with it as a centerpiece too. I've been itching to do some beadwork, and this bead is just the inspiration I need! I also just updated the bargain bin! Books and yarn... The link should work now!

So let's talk about yellow and orange...

As it's been noted on many blogs, yellow and orange tend to be underutilized. I must confess, that yellow and orange aren't my first choice for my beadwork or my knitting. I do like the combinations of pink and orange (made a pretty necklace using those colors) and yellow looks very nice when accenting lavendar (my wedding colors). Overall though, it took my husband buying me burnt orange yarn to actually get the color into my knitting. As for yellow... well yellow has only been featured in variegated yarns of the stash. Now let's pause for a moment to reflect on the cultural implications of these colors. Let's start with yellow. Yellow is a nice bright color. It's the color of the sun. It's a color in flames. It's a color featured in many flowers, the daffodil for instance. However, it's also featured in the phrase, "What's a matter with you? Are you yellow?" The implication that yellow is a cowardly color. As an Asian, yellow has also been the word used to describe our skin color. Technically, this characterization is not true, as my skin is more olive than yellow. Yellow skin would mean jaundice. But I digress. Yellow is a complex color, no doubt about it. Let's now look at orange. Orange is the color of, well, oranges. Yummy! You can also find orange in flames, tabby cats, the California Poppy, Orange Chicken, I could go on. Orange is also the color that many fake 'n bakes will turn a person, plus nothing rhymes with orange. Truly annoying for the poet. Overall, I think of orange and yellow as being bright, in your face, cheerful colors. Orange and yellow aren't for the brooding, the quiet, or the shy. They scream, I'm here and I'm happy. It's one of the reasons I always seem to pick out orange shirts for my daughter. Orange just seems fitting for the child that runs into her big brother's preschool yelling, "HI!" One of the reasons why I'm challenged and yet having fun with the Project Spectrum's colors this month, is that by appreciating the yellow and orange in nature and in our lives, I'm finding that my mood has improved some. I just can't be all that sad or depressed when working with yellow or orange. I like it. I also think that I'll be thanking my lucky stars when we get to May and turn to green. The peppiness of this month is exhausting... So from my home to yours, Spongebob and Nemo say, "Go Giants! and eat lots of Reese's pieces!" P.S. Check out my completed Peeps sock! I love it! I've got to hurry up and finish it's mate so I can wear them on Easter.

Stuff in my cabinet

Kate has come up with a funny contest asking people to take a picture of the cupboard over the refrigerator and show off all the useless junk we store up there. So here is mine. It's mostly filled with travel mugs. Some of these things date back to college days. See that Caffe Strada mug and the Impressionist mug next to it? Those mugs have seen some good times... good times.... Oh, yeah, and you can see some of the Raiders drink cups that RM has collected at games for the past couple of years, a pitcher I forgot I had, a thermos, a training sippy cup that neither kid ever took to. And what's that I see? Is that a Nintendo 64 box? Why yes, yes it is! It doesn't have an old broken down game system in it though. It's filled with a set of plates that my mother in law collected for us. RM's had those plates for a long time. Honestly, I keep forgetting we have them. Sorry, mom! Well, that was enlightening. I really need to get in there and get rid of some of that. How many travel mugs do we need? I finally decided to close up the Etsy store. I may post things there in the future, but I just haven't had the time to update it. So, I've decided to offer up the last 4 items that I have already made on the blog. Reply to this post or email me at tabbytuxedo AT yahoo DOT com if you are interested in any of them. Free shipping for all to the U.S. What's available: Top left - set of 5 stitch markers using word beads and glass accents. The color scheme is deep blue. The wire is non-tarnish silvertone and will fit up to a size 9 needle. $11 Top right - set of 5 stitch markers featuring Swarovski crystals in green and yellow. Wire is non tarnish silvertone and will fit up to a size 9 needle. $11. Bottom: set of 5 stitch markers using Czech glass peach swirls and seed bead accents. Wire is nontarnish silvertone and will fit up to a size 9 needle. $8 Bottom picture: Classic black bracelet featuring Czech glass opaque black rondelles, Czech glass faceted opaque black beads, and seed bead accents. Toggle clasp. Length is 8.25 inches. $15 That's all I have left from the store! I am planning out a couple of jewelry projects for this month's project spectrum, so I may be back at etsy soon.

Who decides what gets to be on TV?

I really think they need some help. Firstly, enough already with the reality TV shows. I'm over it already. I don't necessarily have a problem with reality TV shows in theory, but there's a limit. Then you add the notion that much of what's on TV really isn't any good. (At least in my opinion.) Finally, someo really good shows get cancelled way before their time. Case in point, RM and I just finished watching Firefly on DVD. Now, that was an excellent TV show. The dialogue was good, the idea interesting, good acting, compelling story. Why cancel it after only one season? Some more evidence, Freaks and Geeks. I loved that show and again it was cancelled after just one season. La Femme Nikita (pre-Alias, Alias totally copied it) went several seasons, but then it gets cancelled unexpectedly, and the show ends with a completely ridiculous and unsatisfying ending. HBO's Carnivale suffers the same fate. I'm annoyed, deeply annoyed. Of course, RM and I really don't watch much network TV anymore. Most evenings find us on the couch watching something on DVD. You did all notice the DVD stash, right? I wanted to thank Kelly for sending me a lovely Karma Swap package. She sent me two balls of Knitpicks Palette in a lovely purple. I've never used or seen Palette before, so I'm very excited. She also sent along a couple of balls of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton destined to become some washcloths, and some cute stitch markers. Thanks Kelly! Felted SP is also coming to an end. I'm excited to discover who's been spoiling me with Noro and Malabrigo. Progress continues apace on the Berry soda Clapper, and my Peeps socks. I hope to have some progress pics soon. Until then, enjoy these pics of yellow flowers that came in an arrangement that my best friend sent me in remembrance of my grandmother. I really am developing a new appreciation of yellow and orange.

Stash flashing will not be occuring today

The main reason for this is RM actually reads this blog. Now, he knows that I have a rather large stash. No where near the dimensions of a few of you, but sizeable nevertheless. Last year, someone talked me into flashing the stash. That's how I learned that RM read the blog. He sent me an email about his shock and horror of what's pent up in the plastic bins taking up our closet space. So anyway, he knows I have a lot. He doesn't need to see it out in all of its glory though. In place of a yarn stash flash, I will share another sizeable family collection. This represents most of our DVD collection. Some friends have called us their personal blockbuster. Now, having kids has curtailed the DVD buying. We still do rent through Netflix. It's the only entertainment these days. I'm sure some of you can relate. Here's another member of the family's stash. SWB actually is the proud owner of 2 sizeable stashes of his own. There's this one; his toy cars. Then he has a sizeable collection of Star Wars figurines and action figures. Yep, we're a family of collectors here. Back to the fiber for a minute, I've reset my ticker to begin today. I'm armed and ready for the Stashalong and Yarn Focus Challenge. Fully expect to read much weeping and gnashing of teeth through the next three months. Oh, and a final note, sign-ups for the knitting vacation swap end tomorrow evening at 8PM PST. Take into account Daylight Savings time, and you have 30 more hours to sign up. We'd love to have you!