Monday, December 31, 2007

Blog Catch-Up Post

I've been meaning to post these photos (as requested).

These are the 'gift bags' made from dish towels, displayed fetchingly upon my ironing board.





Directions are ridiculously easy:

1) Buy embroidered cotton dish towels on Deep Clearance at Target.
2) Put them away for a year.
3) Dig them out just before the holidays and remember WHY you bought them.
4) Embroider names with Mom's machine.
5) Sew together on the serger.
5a) Be sure to angle them so the big thick hem drops off.
5b) Put a piece of ribbon in the seam BEFORE you sew it, to tie it closed.
6) Rip out at least one bag because you forgot to do 5b.
7) Wrap all the gifts in tissue, stuff 'em in, and tie shut.
No wrapping paper, gift tags, or tape required.

8) Optional: Do a little dance when you realize how much time this saves.

January AC4C Project- Baby Packs!

The January Project for All Crafts for Charity is KwaZula-Natal Baby Packs.

List member SAM has set up a site
here with all the project details, as well as photos and info about this area of South Africa.

I sent my package a little early, and included two of the kimonos from Mason-Dixon Knitting, with matching hats and some diaper pins.

Creamsicle? Set

Monday, December 17, 2007

If The World Were A Village...

I've seen this come through my e-mail several times, but haven't ever seen the appropriate attribution for it. So, if anyone knows from whence it came, I'm glad to give credit where it's due.

In the meantime, here's a little food for thought...

If The World Were a Village of 100 People

If this world were shrunk to the size of a village, what would it look like?

If 100 people lived in this village:
· 52 would be women, 48 would be men
· 30 would be children, 70 would be adults.
· 7 would be senior citizens.
· 90 would be heterosexual, 10 would be homosexual.
· 70 would be non-white, 30 would be white.

· 61 would be Asian, 13 African, 13 from North and South America, 12 Europeans, and the remaining one from the South Pacific.

· 33 would be Christians, 19 believers in Islam, 13 would be Hindus, and 6 would follow Buddhist teachings. 5 would believe that there are spirits in the trees and rocks and in all of nature. 24 would be believe in other religions, or would believe in no religion.

· 17 would speak Chinese, 9 English, 8 Hindi and Urdu, 6 Spanish, 6 Russian, and 4 would speak Arabic. That would account for half the village. The other half would speak Bengal, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, German, French, or some other language.

In such a village with so many sorts of folks, it would be very important to learn to understand people different from yourself and to accept others as they are.

But consider this.

Of the 100 people in this village:

· 20 are undernourished, 1 is dying of starvation, while 15 are overweight.

· Of the wealth in this village, 6 people own 59% (all of them from the United States), 74 people own 39%, and 20 people share the remaining 2%.

· Of the energy of this village, 20 people consume 80%, and 80 people share the remaining 20%.

· 75 people have some supply of food and a place to shelter them from the wind and the rain, but 25 do not. 17 have no clean, safe water to drink.

· If you have money in the bank, money in your wallet and spare change somewhere around the house, then you are among the richest 8.

· If you have a car, you are among the richest 7.

· Among the villagers, 1 has a college education. 2 have computers. 14 cannot read.

· If you can speak and act according to your faith and your conscience without harassment, imprisonment, torture or death, then you are more fortunate than 48, who can not.

· If you do not live in fear of death by bombardment, armed attack, landmines, or of rape or kidnapping by armed groups, then you are more fortunate than 20, who do.

· In one year, 1 person in the village will die, but in the same year, 2 babies will be born, so that at the year's end the number of villagers will be 101.

~~~
Now I'm sure that someone's going to go look it up on 'Snopes' or one of the other hoax-debunking sites, and find some error in the writing.

But as a quick reality check, I think it helps one to remember that if you HAVE, well then you're pretty damn lucky, because there are so many that DON'T.

Getting off my soapbox . .

Friday, December 7, 2007

I Can Has RAM?

Oh Happy Day! I bought myself some RAM for the holidays.

No, not a sheep. Computer parts!
(Don't even mention sheep to me. I am STILL carding that damn wool.)


What Beautiful RAMS I Has


Couldn't have been easier. The web site scanned my computer and said (not verbatim, of course):

a) This is what you HAVE.
b) This is what you CAN put in.
c) This is how we sell it.
d) How would you like to PAY for this?

I even INSTALLED it MYSELF. Yeah, it's that easy.
Easier than putting pants on a baby!

You literally OPEN the PC, open the package, and SNAP the RAM in.

Gotta press hard, the instructions say it takes 20 to 30 pounds of pressure to get the little buggers in there!

Hope like hell that you don't accidentally exert 30.1 lbs. of pressure and bust the thing,

SNAP! Like LEGO, only more expensive!

For less than $100, it's like having a new 'puter. Or at least one that doesn't suck! :)

Why is it that we're supposed to be petrified of "WHATsINSIDEtheCOMPUTER" anyway?

Saturday, December 1, 2007

December Has Arrived

December is here, and along with it, a dose of cold weather.

My parents left this morning for the Caribbean (stinkers!).

The December AC4C Project is to make blankies for shelter pets. I whipped up several, using pieces of fleece that weren't large enough for baby blankets.

Two or three pieces serged together were just about the right size for a cat.

Wouldn't be suitable for a baby, as you wouldn't want all those serged edges right next to their skin. Our resident Cat, however, approved these heartily.

Photos to follow.

ETA: Photos! Two examples of smaller pieces, serged into something useful:



Monday, November 26, 2007

November Shipments

Finally back after picking up some nasty Spyware along the way.

After following NINE pages of directions, I seem to have the little bugger under control [quickly knocking on faux wood]!

A few quick photos of items that have gone out this week:

hat & scarf set

Marilyn's Scarf

The scarf and mitts in the first photo (and several others like them) went to Cangleska, Inc., the shelter on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Cangleska

The scarf was knit for Marilyn, "The Baby Lady"* from the AC4C group, and sent to Re-Member on the Reservation in her honor. Re-Member

* When a group member donates 100 handmade items to the AC4C monthly projects, and the moderators verify the donations, "The Baby Lady" makes them up an authentically- sized preemie doll that can be used as a model for their handmade items. Several of us try to make a few extra items while Marilyn's busy "Makin' Babies'.

The scarf is 100% wool, and darn wide and long.

[My neighbor admired another scarf knit in the same wool, different color, and it ended up going home with her.]

The photo doesn't do it justice, because some little stinker manhandled (childhandled?) my camera. While it continues to limp along, working occasionally, the photo quality is... uh... poo-poo.

Monday, November 19, 2007

And She KNITS, too!

This week we've been listening to Christine Lavin in the car.

I came across some of her song lyrics while surfing, & downloaded a few songs from iTunes. All this week, we've been singing along on the way to school, to the grocery, etc. Checked her website, and she just happened to have a show this weekend.

AND... get this.. BEFORE the show, you could come for “KNITTING with Christine”.

The directions I got were FUBAR, and that's putting it mildly. (Damn you, Google Maps!)

There's always that "Am-I-in-Philly-or-Not?" Phenomenon that happens when you hit City Line Avenue. At least I wasn’t the only one who had to stop at the Temple and ask directions. I missed most of the knitting session, but got to see some WIP’s and meet Christine.

[Keep a pleasant thought in your mind for the woman who bought $90+ of wool at Maryland Sheep & Wool, and knat herself up a sweater that’s not going to fit her. Don’t know if she swatched, and I wasn’t about to ask, either! She’s still in that denial stage where you just keep knitting and hope for a miracle. Kinda like THIS:
miracle.gif

… but not really. ]


The show was hosted by Wiffledust, and the space they use is in a church.

It's a very intimate venue~ the shows are held in a small auditorium- maybe 1/2 the size of a gym. The stage and audience are on the same level. On this night, there were 10 rows of chairs set up. I was in the last row, and could see perfectly. No opera glasses required.

In a word- FANTASTIC.

Christine is incredibly witty, and genuinely interested in talking to the people who had come to the show. After the show, the meet-and-greet area was in a small hallway, and she gamely met with a huge line of people, chatting them all up, and autographing their CDs. I can honestly say, it was like going to a concert that one of your friends was putting on.

As for the show, I haven't seen anything like it before. But I'd LOVE to see her again. She kept the audience involved the whole time. Games, sing-alongs (she actually handed out the lyrics), and... at the end... FLAMING BATONS!


I kid you not.

Well, OK. The batons had Light Sticks on the ends, instead of an open flame. Can't go blowing up the audience at the end, right? That's the kind of thing that give the Fire Marshall ulcers, dontcha know.

If you haven't heard of Christine, she's definately worth a Google and a listen. (Music for Smart Chicks)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

FO's Update

A large pile of FO's has emerged from the dryer and is awaiting packing. I'm hoping to get it all packed and to the Post Office on Tuesday. In the interim, they've been sealed in a tote to prevent the acquisition of canine or feline hair. I counted at least a dozen hats, and at least four scarves. Woo Hoo!

If You've Got an Hour To Kill....

One of the ladies at the Christine Lavin show was knitting a bonnet for her cat. (Sorry, no pattern, she was making it up as she went along.)

She was inspired by a website called Stuff On My Cat

I don't knit for the cat. I just keep a wary eye on him that he doesn't wee-wee on the rug.

Can't remember how I found out about it, but there's an even funnier (IMO) site, I Can Has Cheezeburger

Maybe I'm simple, but no matter how many times I see THIS:

JESUS CHRIST IT�S A LION
MORE


It just cracks me UP!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

MORE FO's and a Different Kind of UFO

Ta-dah! The pile of finished objects is now significantly larger than the pile of UFO's.

Exhibit A:

A Basket Full of Goodies

One of my best 'tricks' to getting UFO's done is to set myself up with a decent movie and stitch away. Not an action-thriller-gotta-pay-attention kind of movie. Something that I can look up and read the subtitles, and if I miss a couple sentences, I can still follow the movie.

Last night's selection was "Must Love Dogs". Not bad. Did anyone else notice that he usually plays the same role in most of his movies "Nice Guy With Broken Heart Who Gets the Girl In the End." Not that I would kick him out of bed for eatin' crackers, mind you.

And you've gotta love THIS, right?



But I digress (Quelle surprise, eh?). I'm just waiting for the washer to finish, so I can toss these lovelies in, and get them one step closer to getting out of here and to someone who needs 'em.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Knit Enabling

A good way to find another knitter is to Knit in Public (KIP).

I was KIP-ing the other day, while waiting for one of the kiddos to get out of class. In less than half an hour, no less than 6 people stopped to ask about the knitting (and to get a peek at the photo at the top of the pattern). Others smiled and nodded as they went past.

Of these six, I'm Knit Enabling three. One needed all the bells and whistles (needles, yarn, How-To DVD). The other two ladies just needed a little yarn to get started.

Voila! Bye-bye Boucle' that I thought I'd never run out of. There was even talk about 'a knitting circle' starting up?! Hmm... !

Friday, November 9, 2007

UFO Progress

There are FO's to report! (see updated photo)

fos 1.jpg

Those with an "X" over them await gentle hand laundering.

Several FO's are from within the pile, and weren't visible to the naked eye.
(Wasn't that a James Bond movie?)

More later. Must disassemble the sofa to locate missing needles before some poor, unsuspecting soul requires a trip to the ER for removal of same.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

How to Rile Up the Neigbors AND the Dog

Although I've been here more than 10 years, it seems I can still freak the neighbors out.

I wanted to work on another part of the fleeces I'm 'processing'.
(Yes, at this rate, both the sheep and I will be dead before I'm done!)

The shearer was supposed to 'remove the tag wool'.
This is secret code for:
"Know that nasty wool by the sheep's bum? Yeah, throw that AWAY, and not in with the rest."

Dude don't know the code. :(

I took the fleeces and arranged them artfully on the front lawn, hoping that this might dislodge some of the 'barnyard wind chimes'.

I was hoping for a win-win where the yard got fertilized, the fleece got cleaner, and all of this happened without a lot of manure handling on my part.

Um... not happening.

What DID happen, is that every car that came by had to slow down and look. And stare. And stare some more.

Neighbors hollered across the street:
"What the hell are you up to NOW?" and
"Is that something DEAD over there?"

Um, no. It's not dead. Although I must admit that the scent is a bit, um "captivating". Captivating enough to lure the most mild-mannered canine into conducting his own investigation.

Does the yarn running through his teeth count as 'pre-carding'?

Dogs EAT Yarn

Monday, November 5, 2007

The Leaning Tower of UFO's

This month, AC4C is making warm items to send to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Many of the members are working in teams. The Hat Team, the Scarf Team, etc.

I wasn't sure which team to join. Sooo... I gathered all my UFO's in one location, and will be FINISHING as many as possible to send.

Behold!
The Leaning Tower of UFO's
Annotated for your horrified convenience!

The Leaning Tower of UFO's

Is YOURS bigger than MINE?
C'mon... it's time for SHOW & TELL for your UFO's.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Have You Seen These Sheep?

My parents' friend has some Mystery Sheep. When their owner moved, she couldn't take them to her new place.

Thus... 'Three Free Sheep' (say that three times fast!)

Recently, the Mystery Trio were sheared, and now I'm trying to process the wool into something 'knittable'.

No, as a matter of fact, I have not done this before.

If anyone would like to venture an ID of these little wooly darlings, it would certainly be appreciated. :)

Ready for Her Close Up

Test Post

...TAP! TAP!.... "Is this thing on?"