Answers - Part 1

Janet asked, "Do you do your own highlights, color your hair or trim your hair? if so, what is the worst experience and what is the best hints you would give?"

The only thing I do to my hair is to take it to a good hairdresser. In Tucson, it was cool because I just traded with one of the women in the salon at the spa I worked at. I'd give her massage and she'd give me hair color/cuts and pedicures! The woman I go to here in Parker, CO is Ahna Buck at Cream of the Crop. I found her because she cuts my friend Rachel's hair and does such a good job! So that's my hint, find someone who's hair always looks great and see where they go!

My real hair color is really dark brown (now with a few grays). I get a reddish brown color and a cut with lots of looooong layers. I do the layers because I need a cut that looks like a style without actually doing anything. I'm hairstyling impaired so I'm really very Janis Joplin with my hair. I wash and let air dry. I don't even think I own a blow dryer (unless it's in the basement with my craft stuff!).

Worst hair experience:
So there I was...
Stationed in Wurzburg, Germany. I had this really crappy, mean squad sergeant named Luciano. We just called him Lucifer. He had just tried to get me busted over something stupid (long story I'm sure I'll elaborate on in the future). The powers that be shot him down and put me in a different squad so he couldn't bug me anymore (or maybe so I couldn't bug him?). He was, to say the least, PISSED about it. Napoleonic, much?

A week later, I was on the main post getting a haircut. The woman I normally asked for was sick and so I was given to another lady. She was this little Asian woman and as she was cutting my hair, I explained to her that I have this cowlick at the hairline of my bangs. I told her so she would know and cut them straight, it's been a big problem in the past if I don't mention it.

She's FUCKING up my bangs royally. After several attempts, she finally says, "You're very picky about your hair, aren't you Ruth?" I said, "Well.... isn't everyone?" I thought, how'd she know my first name? The client slips only use last names. Then I saw the picture and everything spun into place. The picture on her station was of her and her husband. Guess who?

Lucifer.

Bollocks! I left there with Bjork bangs (shredded, crooked and china doll short). I refused to pay and I hope she didn't get paid for it. Bitch. Those two are perfect for each other.

Olga asked, "What one thing do you know to be true?"

When I was in 8th grade, I was very plain. T-shirt, jeans, long straight hair (I've kind of come full circle back on that!). When I got to high school, I hung out with the Mods and the Punk Rock kids and developed a style somewhere in between. My hair was short and wild, my clothes were baggy and strange. Here's a pic of me my senior year.

In Jr. High, there were rumors abound about what a prude I was and how uptight I was. I didn't think I was either but who knows. Then in High School when my look changed, the rumors changed. Suddenly I was a druggie and a slut. Now I know neither of those labels were true. The slut one always made me laugh since I wore such baggy clothes.

Anyway, I learned pretty early that people are going to talk about you either way. So the one thing I know for sure is true is to never give a Rat's Ass about what people say or think about you. The only people who's opinions about me mean anything to me are the people I truly care about. Strangers/acquaintances can go bugger off!

More next time, Ruth!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

That's the name of the latest Yarn Swap I'm hosting. Wanna play? It's here.

Not to be confused with the contest I have going here.

I got nothing today. I think I'm going to steal Olga's idea and have you, Dear Readers, just ask me questions. Ask me anything! I'll take questions and answer them all on Monday.

Ask away, Ruth!

The House That Yarn Built

I don't know if y'all have heard of The House That Yarn Built. It's a fundraiser to build a house in New Orleans 9th Ward - the place hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina.

The thinking behind the name The House That Yarn Built is that you donate what you would spend on at least one skein of yarn. The company Simply Socks is currently matching donations up to $1000. You can read all about it here. That post also has all the pertinent links and when you donate you can email the coordinator of the fundraiser to be put in a drawing for fabulous yarny prizes and then you can email Allison at Simply Socks and she'll match your donation! A 2-fer!

I think, other then slavery and the Civil War, the mess that is the aftermath of Katrina is one of our country's biggest embarrassments. Or it should be. (I know many of us think the war in Iraq should be up in that category as well.) Our government F'd it all up after Katrina and has done little to fix it. It's obviously going to be up to private citizens like us to step up.

I've donated to this cause before and maybe you have to but now with Allison matching donations, it'll be like doubling your money for this fine cause!

Dig deep, Ruth!

Day Trip

Dave thought it would be fun to go up to Loveland for lunch. We actually went to Loveland to look at this Sports Bar/Grill for sale - we went to check it out and eat lunch there. It's kind of like Dave's version of window shopping. He's ready to sell the FedEx route we bought, the one that brought us to Colorado. I'm in a bit of a huff because I thought when we moved it was to be our last move until the kids graduated high school. Both D and I were moved around quite a bit as kids and we don't want that for our boys. We're still talking that over.

I know he wouldn't actually buy a restaurant/bar because as much as it seems like a decent idea/venture, we both know that no matter what the owner says, the owner most likely lives at the business. We'd like to find something where we can see D every now and then. He's never had a 40 hour/week job. It's always 12 or more hours a day and days that start ass-early in the morning. Which is really odd, since D's no more a morning person then I am!

OK, so our trip. Loveland is, well, lovely! It's such a beautiful town and not very big, I want to say 30K people? Maybe? And it has a few gorgeous lakes. It also has one of the main Interweave Press offices (you know, Interweave Knits magazine?). We took the kids with us and had lunch at the Bar/Grill. It's a nice enough place, not very big, though. The service stank but I just think that was our waitress, not policy or anything. The food was good but nothing special. Except the wings. We had an order of chicken wings and they were the most tender,fallin' off the bone wings I've ever had! With a really unique BBQ sauce that made me want the recipe.

The bonus of making my Stitch Savers is that I have an excuse to find the yarn shop in every town we go to! I went to the two shops in Vegas last time we vacationed there and on this trip to Loveland I went to Woolen Treasures . The shop was so well stocked, warm and friendly. D and the boys stayed in the van while I went in to ply my wares. Sneaky yarn purchases ensued. I scored two skeins of Shibui Knits sock yarn (one in chocolate brown and one in robin's egg blue) to make the Transitions gloves and since it was still around my birthday, I got 'em at 15% off! Splee!

What a lovely little shop! Well, not that little, really. It's in a home made over in to a Yarn Shop. The owner was there and she ordered some of my stuff, so if you're in Loveland, you can get Stitch Savers there instead of paying shipping to my Etsy store.

Dave had heard there was a Big Red Store up in Estes Park (that's a store that specializes in Nebraska Husker gear) so we decided to go on up and check it out. Wow! For those who've been up there for the Wool Festival or actually live there, you are so lucky! It's such a gorgeous drive and another beautiful Colorado mountain town. The drive was so picturesque that I put my knitting down for the rest of the drive and just enjoyed the scenery. Estes Park is SO touristy but still retains a quiet, inviting feel.

Oh, side not. Sad note. On the way between the two towns, we were stalled on the freeway because of a wreck. It was the strangest thing - it must've just happened. There were no less then eight cars stopped (6 on our side of the freeway and more on the other side). We didn't see any wreckage, though. There was an ambulance in the right-hand lane next to us and it didn't have its lights on or anything. When we got closer we saw a man on the ground, fairly surrounded by people and one other man was preforming CPR on him. The ambulance pulled over to the on-ramp across from the median where the crowd was (I think some of the people standing around actually flagged it down, so it stopped).

We read in the newspaper on Sunday that the man didn't make it. He lost control of his motorcycle which propelled him into the cable barrier between the two sides of the freeway and he had no helmet. The newspaper, strangely, made a point of writing about the fact that the man's motorcycle was homemade and he'd made it back in 1999. I don't know why that was relevant - I have some friends who're into bikes and they "handmake" their rides from what they call "basket cases", motorcycles that are nothing but parts and pieces sold in "baskets". Anyway, D and I would talk about the man from time to time throughout the whole day - it really seemed to effect us, seeing that guy doing CPR and all those people standing there, helpless to do anything but watch. According to the paper, the man was pronounced dead at the scene. So sad.

On to Estes...
We went to one Husker store and it was tiny! We looked around and then left. Dave took the boys down to the river (which runs through the whole town) and I asked if there was anything in the store he liked. He said the sweatshirt he was looking at but $50 was too much for it. I told him I was going to go back in there and see if I could look in the phone book to see if there was another yarn store in Estes - you know, to see if they wanted some Stitch Savers! I went back in and btw the phone book and the man behind the counter, realized that the yarn store was across the street in another shopping center! I told D I was going over there. I hoofed up a 90 degree hill (OK, it just felt like it) and in the middle of this shopping center was the place I was looking for. The Stitchin' Den - another great shop! Not as big as the one in Loveland but a great selection nonetheless! I didn't buy anything at this one because I knew I was going to try to sneak back and get that sweatshirt for D without his noticing.

I did it, too! (Do not underestimate the sneakiness of the 5elementknitr!) I got it for him for an anniversary present (8 years on the 22nd!). When I went back into the store, this women walked in about a step ahead of me. She was my age or older (I'm 38) and she had stuffed her not small body into this white micro mini and tank top. I mean, that skirt was so short, I could practically see all her business when she put a foot on the step going into the store. I didn't realize the look of horror I had on my face until I saw the guy behind me looking at me - you know, the guy that was her companion. Ugh - I really need to work on my Poker face!

We spent the rest of the day wandering the town. We bought the boys ice creams (Estes has no less then 7 ice cream shops in one block. SEVEN! And another Husker store, too! We took them in to the fossil store where they got some cool rocks. I bought a baseball cap (been looking for one for awhile). Then we took them up to the area by the yarn shop. They have a small pond where you can feed some trout. These puppies were enormous! I guess it's all that fish food people throw to them.

Then we got some gas and while we were pumping the gas, we saw 2 big female Elk crossing the street! It was so cool! The kids loved it! (sorry for all the !!! but we were pretty stoked about it) After that, we ate at Poppy's restaurant. Again with the slooooooowwww service! We sat with our menus and our hungry little guys for almost 15 minutes before they even took our drink order! At least the food was good - love sweet potato fries, find them so rarely.

It reminded me of the times with D before kids. We used to take these impromptu day trips all the time. I love driving around with no real plan or agenda like that. Especially since D never wants to me drive (fine by me - I hate freeway driving) and extra-especially since I learned to knit!

The kids had a great time, we had a great time and we found new places to hang out and spend time together instead of in front of the TV/video games/poker tournaments where technically we're in the house together but I wouldn't even pretend to call it "family time".

We left at 10 am and didn't get home until 10p. D was in the fossil store with the boys (I was outside watching their ice creams melt) when someone passed and commented to their friend, "Ohmigod, it's 5p already!" Wow - where'd the day go?? Who cares - such a great day!

Can't wait to go back, Ruth!

Ambush!

Why is it that whenever you have more then 3 women in a room and you put them in that room more then, say, 3 times - why does there always have to be DRAMA?

PTO meeting last night (same as PTA, just spelled different). A woman, we'll call her S, starts out with a simple question to, say K. K answers. S starts verbally attacking this woman and for about 10 minutes. This spirals down in to a complete nightmare and K finally gets up and leaves. S completely ambushed K with this minor thing. This thing needed to be addressed but S just seemed to use it as an opportunity to make K look bad and also, apparently to throw the PTO prez under the bus as an added side bonus!

It was a manipulative mishandling of a minor situation and I can only be thankful that we had a very slim attendance last night. I'm equally thankful that a) none of them but my friend Rachel reads my drivel and b) I have a place to vent all this nonsense! Not that I care if they read these, just in the interest of not having even more drama to deal with. I can only imagine what would've happened if we'd actually had a new member show up to that embarrassment of a meeting!

WTF??

Halfway through this craziness, as the rest of us are sitting there shell-shocked and flabbergasted, S says, "I mean, I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable." To which I whisper to myself, "Too late."

Now y'all know I'm not the most diplomatic person but in this instance, I tried keeping my mouth shut and sticking to my knitting (yes, I take it to meetings - don't you?). I tried 3 times to shut it down by saying, "That's enough, let's move on." and "Moving on..." No dice. S was not to be stopped in her harangue.

After that meeting, Rachel and I had to go in to town and have a drink!

OK, enough of that nonsense.

Here's a reading update.

I read one of the best books ever! The Shivered Sky by Matt Dinniman.
I don't read science fiction normally. And I don't think this book falls under that category. But maybe if I did, I wouldn't be so impressed? This author created an entire world and culture and creatures we've never seen (which I imagine is de rigeur for science fiction writers, which is why I brought that up).

These 5 young adults (mid to late teens all) die and end up in Heaven. Only in Heaven, the angels have lost the war and are a minor underground force. Demons are running the show and humans are slaves (and food). These teens are part of a prophesy and are supposed to put things right.

Only as the book progresses, their version of what's right is sorely tested. This book, in a roundabout way, reminds me of the movie Crash (also one of my favorites). Those who are bad also have their good sides and those who are good, well, maybe not so much.

The depth of character in this book is phenomenal. The secondary and even tertiary characters are so well developed that you really feel for them, be they demon, angel or human. I loved this guy's style of writing and I'm sure I'll probably read it again next year.

We're lucky enough to have a signed copy. My husband read a review in The Weekly (free independent newspaper) in Tucson. If you mentioned the review when you ordered the book, the author would sign it for you. Dave read it and when I asked him about it he said, "Eh." I should've known better as he says this about most things. It's an excellent book. Go get it. Now. I'll wait....

As I was reading it, I kept thinking, this would make a great movie. But as I got further into it and the way the characters were developed and presented, I changed my mind. I think the best way to present this to the masses (besides forced literacy) would be as a TV series, possibly even animated so you could really see the creatures and landscape as the author presents in his writing.

I'm supposed to be reading The Bonesetter's Daughter next (according to my New Year's list) but I'm taking a little side journey. I listened to 1st Degree by James Patterson (with Andrew Gross) on audiobook. It was OK. I really enjoy James Patterson - he wrote Along Came a Spider and Kiss The Girls, both made in to movies with Morgan Freeman as the main character.

The 1st Degree was entertaining and I like to listen to audiobooks while I make my Stitch Savers (as yet another aside, since being featured on Knitty.com's Cool Stuff page - it's been non-stop with these things! I don't knit anymore, I just make little keychains! Not complaining, mind you, just sayin'). Anyway, it was a pretty good book until the end.

I'll try to convey this without spoiling the ending. I don't know if I'll be successful - you've been warned. There's only 2 people it could possibly be doing these crimes. They discover it's not the one so all of a sudden these 5 smart, tough, well-educated women are all, "Oh NO! Who could it possibly be????" Seriously? And note to killer - If you're going to attack a policewoman in her home with a knife, wouldn't it occur to you that she might, I know it's a stretch, but she just might have a gun?

Anyway, it got me to thinking how much I enjoyed his Alex Cross books and I decided to read/listen to everything he's ever done. If you clicked on the Wickipedia link, you'll see what a *crazy* brave endeavor this is.

So - and eventually, I like to try to get back to my original point - my side journey has taken me to James Patterson's first novel The Thomas Berryman Number. It's pretty good so far - I'm about 100 pages in. I love that Patterson has these little tiny chapters (usually over 100 per book) and he has such fast paced goin's on in these thrillers. It's like watching an intelligent (most of the time) action movie!

Is there any author you'd like to read all of? I'd like to read all of Matt Dinniman's stuff but The Shivered Sky seems to be it so far!

Reading til it hurts, Ruth!

One Last Frog...

Still fighting with the Hateful Bed Jacket. The sleeve that was too short before was still 4 stitches too short. It may not seem like much but part of that 4 stitches is a lacy bit so it was almost 2" too short. sigh. I could've folded the long part on the back of the sleeve in and sewn it down that way or I could've tried to force/ease in the extra but I've struggled with it this far that one last rip and redo wasn't going to be that big a deal and I want this to be, well, if not perfect, at least well done.

Here comes lots of pictures - hope you don't have dial up!

I've been receiving a lot of REALLY good yarn for my yarn bouquet! If you're new here, I'm putting together an enormous yarn bouquet for my kids' school's Silent Auction. I have a contest attached to it and you can win this pattern and the yarn (in the colors of your choice) to make it...

The details for this contest are here.

So far I've gotten two packages from the lovely Sophanne. I've already pictured the first one, here's the second...

There's some lovely Alpaca and some Rowan Chunky and Rowan DK. All green - love it!

I got a Sack 'O Yarn from Sam...

There's 5 skeins of Rowanspun 4ply that would make some wonderful fair isle. Some Rowan handknit cotton, Rowan cork, Elsbeth Lavold silky wool, 2 skeins of Araucania Patagonia cotton, and a skein of KnitPicks laceweight. Wow!

I got this great sock yarn from Wanda (sorry for the crappy pic - taken in the basement)


and this colorful sock yarn from ChickenKnits...

That's a skein of Yarn Pirate and a skein of Sunshine Yarns - both sock club selections.

I'm kinda sad this yarn isn't all for me but I will be bidding on it - no doubt! My goal is to get $1000 dollars worth of yarn in this bouquet. I'm going to put it in a ginormous glass vase from Michael's. I think I'm almost halfway there already! I have the contest open until the first week of May - go stash-diving friends!

Also, I've been getting some great stuff in the swaps I've been in.

First, I was in the Sock Knitters of the World Unite and Swap! Long enough name, right? I got a bit shorted at first as my upstream partner forgot to reread the swap requirements before sending. I almost did the same thing so no sweat. She made up for it and here's the two packages put together...

There were many other wonderful things in this package but they've already been put away. The yarn stays out for petting purposes.

I was taking the pictures of this yarn when the Jawoll started acting funny - it was squirming and then started making this horrible squalling sound. WTF??


awwwww, a sweet little baby Jawoll...



OK, it didn't really happen that way. I stuck my fingers in the skein, which I almost never do, and I felt something in there. I thought my partner had put an extra little treat in there but turns out this yarn comes with some reinforcing thread - cool!


In between, my downstream partner, Cleverknits, sent this lovely package to make up for it!



There's some lovely cards, an Addi Turbo needle, a DPN case she made for me, some really cool sock yarn (there's another skein of sock yarn but I'm putting it in the Yarn Bouquet), some tea in a silver bag and a wee sock made into a change purse. I'll be sending her a nice thank you later this week.

I also got an excellent package for an April Showers Sock Swap - what a lovely lantern moon bag and some beautiful Jitterbug yarn, right?





I also did a "Naked Mail" swap. Did you know you can send almost anything through the mail? I got this really cool elephant bank (now residing in D2's room) and it had a ball of yarn inside. SuhWeet!



Well, I'm going to go wrestle with the Hateful Bed Jacket some more.

I will not be defeated, Ruth!

Birthday Fun And A Little Poetry

For my birthday, on Sunday, my husband took me to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch and then in to the mall for a present!

If you've never eaten at The Cheesecake Factory, it's a real treat. It's not cheap but you get an enormous amount of delicious food so it works out OK in the end. Their menu is about 18 pages long and that's no exaggeration. They actually have advertisements from other companies in their menu! I think it's to cover the cost of the damn thing.

They have such a variety of foods that I was worried. Usually when a restaurant has that many different styles of food (bistro, Asian, Italian, etc, etc) then none of it is really all that great. Not so at The Factory! It was all spectacular and delicious! I had an amazing cocktail called the Georgia Peach - Absolut Vodka, Peach Schnapps, peach slices and raspberries all blended. So. Good! I had the chicken medallions with balsamic marinade and asparagus. Dave had the Crispy Beef which was an Asian dish with a delicious sweet/savory sauce. Of course we had to have dessert there but since I'm not actually a big fan of cheesecake, I ordered the Lemoncello torte. *Drool*

After lunch, we went to Victoria Secret were Dave bought me the bra I've been wanting forever. I knew what size I needed from a previous fitting and I knew I wanted wireless. It was $42 and worth every penny. Wearing it now and feeling comfortable and pretty!

I forgot to mention something from a couple of weeks ago...

I bought the Interweave Knits fridge magnet poetry kit. I was going to enter their poetry contest but like most things, bought it, stashed it, forgot until it was too late where it was and why I'd bought it to begin with. sigh. I'm a dolt.

Anyway, I was cleaning up a small riot on our bedroom floor and found it again. I slapped the whole thing on the fridge and left to run some errands. Dave was home on a break and stayed with the boys.

When I left, it was still in one big rectangular piece. When I came home it was taken apart and the boys were having a field day with it! I was trying to make a little poetry but some of the words were missing. I asked T if he was the one who took it apart or was it Daddy? He said Daddy had done it and that's when I noticed the poetry D had left for me...

If you can't read it, it says, "I swell to pleasure you [heart] sheep can join in for fuzzy play."

Yea. Only D can take knitting poetry and make it pornographic! He's a nut!

Later, T came up with this poem...

It says, "I [heart] to knit on sheep for friends." Clever boy that one.

If you've got kids (or silly husbands), I highly suggest getting one of these poetry kits (knitting themed or otherwise). Our boys have been making stuff with these words almost daily since we put them out last month!

I don't feel 38, Ruth!

Why Yes!

That WAS me you saw on the Yarn Harlot's blog.

This year it was held at The Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch. Here's a before shot of her books on display...

Here's an after shot...

People showed up in all their knitting best. Here's the Mitered Coat of Many Colors (as I'm calling it)...

This next woman had a beautiful jacket on. When asked about the yarn, she said, "I don't know, I bought it and knit it." Fair enough! Her companion wouldn't lean in to the picture with her, even after I gently nudged him with my foot. No, I'm not normally in the habit of kicking strangers but it was the excitement of the evening! I teased him about being a fugitive as others wanted to picture her and he'd always look away from the camera...

It was a fantastic evening. Rachel and I got there around 3p and we were #6 and #7 in line. I remembered to bring some camp chairs - last year, I sat in line for a few hours on the floor and when I stood, I couldn't feel my legs!

The Ever-Lovely Marly showed up, too...

We were in line with lovely people and the waiting was almost as fun as the Harlot. A lady next to me gave me some ingenious little stitch markers and showed me that when you bite off the end of a dried apricot and shove a whole almond into it - it's a delicious treat!

Sam, Kelly, and LaDonna, and Jen (owner or Purls of Wisdom in Parker but elusive to picture) were there. As were many other of my "imaginary friends" (as my husband calls my Blogger friends).

This was our first sighting of The Harlot...

This is "Crutch Girl". She's in all the shots as she got a great front row seat due to her crutches. Hmmm, have to remember that for next time. Just kiddin' - we got there early and we got front row seats, too.

Stephanie taking her crowd pics...

Over 200 people showed up and an excellent time was had. A man wandered over to the fiction section (to the left of the screen) and stayed there listening and laughing for about 15 minutes before his family found him and they left.

Oh, and note to the woman behind me who answered her cell phone during Stephanie's talk. Stephanie is a wonderful, patient woman because if I was public speaking (which is difficult enough) and some yayhoo in the second row not only answered her phone but talked on it for almost 5 minutes - well, y'all know I'm not the most diplomatic person. I did hold my tongue this time because I didn't want to add to the noise the woman was making. She answered the phone and said, "Why are you calling me??" but then talked For. EVER! And not quietly either! Didn't even try to whisper!! If you have to take a call, OK - maybe it's test results for an illness, maybe it's the sitter, but for decency's sake, walk off in to the stacks of the bookstore to have your conversation. Ya silly, rude, B....!

When it came time for book signing, I asked Stephanie if I could massage her hands. (For any newcomers here, I was a massage therapist for 8 years) This is something I meant to do last year but was all bunged up about meeting her and forgot. Her hands are tiny and soft! She asked if I could just follow her around from city to city and I could be a HarlotHead. If only!

After the great time we had seeing The Harlot, we went across the parking lot and had a great time at a pub. Their ended up being 13 of us at the pub. The food was great, the service spectacular, and the Woodchuck Hard Cider plentiful. Maybe that's why I left my camera there! I didn't even discover this until Monday (3 days later). Lucky for me they are honest people. I am a dunderhead.

Planning my life as a HarlotHead, Ruth!

Kelp Me!

I have so much to tell y'all!

I have been plugging away at the Hated Bed Jacket. On the way to Vegas, I started the binding-off stairstep back thing you do for the sleeve. I was halfway through when I figured out what the designer meant when she said, "Make the front shaping match the end of the back shaping then start binding off". Paraphrasing but it was equally clear to me. Clear as mud. What she meant is that when you finish stairstepping out with the cast-ons that create the sleeve, count the rows you have for the back cuff and make sure you have the same number of rows on the front cuff before you start your bind-offs. That's probably not much clearer to you but if you ever attempt this cruel pattern, email me and I'll walk you through it.

Anyway, as I said, I was halfway through these bind-offs when I realized what she meant. What took 45 minutes of plane time to do, took 3 hours of vacation time to undo. But I did it.

Then after everything is bound off, you come to the instructions for the collar, "Beginning at left shoulder end, cast on 5 stitches." But. But. But, there's no where to cast this on to. Everything's bound off. It took me a few days and one sleepless night to figure out you have to knit the collar separately and sew it on. It doesn't say that anywhere in the pattern! It never once mentions sewing the collar on to anything! Bollocks!

So now I'm 1/4 through making this collar and I'm. Running. Out. Of. Yarn!

of course.

So I do what any knitter would do (after I stop sobbing), I call Jen at Purls of Wisdom because I know she carries Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (the place I bought this stuff last Sep. does not carry it anymore). She doesn't have the color I need but she says she'll call and order me a skein or two (as I still have about 3 miles of edging I need to knit. Then sew on.)

When I get to the shop, she's calling the mill and they don't have that color. They put her on hold for a bit to check the old color cards to see when it was last produced. The lady went through the color cards all the way to 1993 and there is no Kelp Green Cotton Fleece!

Now my skeins don't have a color or a dye lot number so I don't know what the hell to do now. Ravelry to the rescue! There's 65 pages of people on Ravelry who have Cotton Fleece. Out of all that, there are only 2 others that have this mysterious and elusive Kelp Green. One of them is the ever lovely Marly! My friend and fellow blogger who lives on the other side of Denver! She's bringing them to me on Friday when we go see the Harlot!

What are the stinkin' odds??

She got hers when she went on a yarny field trip to the Brown Sheep mill in Nebraska.

Whew!

I had a great weekend last weekend. I got to meet up with Wanda and we had lunch and knit for a couple of hours on Saturday. She also gave me 4 skeins of sock yarn for my Yarn Bouquet for the Silent Auction at my kids' school (thanks Wanda, you're entries into my contest are noted and deeply appreciated)! Then on Sunday, I went to Purls for the Sit-n-Knit. I was there for a few hours and then went home because we were taking the inlaws to meet up with the other inlaws (brother and wife type) at The Fort.

We had a lovely dinner of different kinds of buffalo meat and drinks and desserts and drinks. The appetizer sampler we had contained bison tongue (which T really liked. So did I!), little deep-fried pieces of Rocky Mountain Oysters (which D2 really liked. eesh!) and my favorite, peanut butter stuffed jalapenos. I know it sounds disgusting but it was one of the best things I've ever eaten! They take pickled, whole jalapenos and stuff them with a mixture of creamy peanut butter and mango chutney. So. Tasty!

My FIL turned 80 last Wed. and we were celebrating. They put a buffalo hat on him and sang. It was really spectacular and a fun evening.

For those who live in Colorado and are both A) going to see the Harlot on Friday, Apr 4 (tomorrow!) and B) planning on participating in my Contest/Fundraiser - you can save the postage and hand me the yarn at the Harlot event.

See you there, Ruth!

Scavenger Hunt

The Harlot is having a Sock Scavenger Hunt. Here's my entry for Freestyle International...




Not realizing he was on his way to his last stand, General Custer cast on for a new sock.

Love this game, Ruth!