Gratitude

OK, not much sleep last nite. Again. Here's a little ditty I've been pondering over since I started this blog.

Giving thanks where it is due.

First and foremost, I want to thank Lisa L. for teaching me to knit. And purl. And bind off. And thanks to Tracy (the guru) for putting up with my idea of a lesson (I want to learn this, this, and this. OK, GO!)

I'd like to thank all the people who've read my blog and taken the time to comment. I've been told about something called Haloscan where you can get emails so you can thank them personally but I haven't had time to figure it out yet.

I want to thank Rachel, my friend here in CO. She is there when I need to talk and understands the yarn obsession so doesn't get too bored with that. And recently, she took the boys and her daughter (Morgan) to an Earth Day event at the museum so Dave and I could have a date on our anniversary. Here's a couple of pic's of the boys when they came home and a copy of the email she sent me later telling me what a good time they had.

"I keep thinking of Davis and I'm cracking up. He was so funny yesterday--the child had a BLAST! We're at the reptile demonstration thing and it's pretty much over, all the kids are petting the snakes and the lizard. Davie is down on his knees next to the lady with the lizard and she is telling him that the lizard is real. He points to the lizard's cheek, "Okay, but this is fake." Lady says, "No. That's real." So Davis points to the leg, "Well, is this fake?" Lady says, "Nope, that's real, too." Davis points to the other leg, "Well how about this part...is this part fake?" This went on and on for about 10 minutes. The lady was cracking up.

I have a good one for Trevor, too. We're on on way home and Morgan is whining for food, "I'm so hungry...my head hurts and I'm hungry...I need food...I'm so hungry!" Trevor turns to Morgan and says, "You know, if you head hurts real bad, you could die!" All in all, a good time was had by all...and Morgan did not die. " - Rachel's email.

I will express my gratitude through food. If you were all here, I'd even serve it to you!

I call this recipe Bunko Pasta. I was in a bunko group for about a year. In that year, this is the only truly memorable dish that was served. It is not figure friendly or terribly time efficient but it is. So. Tasty. It also makes enough to feed a small army, but you can easily halve the recipe.

Bunko Pasta

1 lb. penne pasta (cooked), 2 jars pasta sauce, 1 onion (chopped and sauteed), 1 lb. Italian sausage (we use sweet/mild) cooked, 6 oz. Provolone (sliced), 1 1/2 cups sour cream, 6 oz. shredded mozzarella, grated parmesan.

Combine sauce, onion and sausage and warm (I cook the sausage and onion at the same time, then drain). In 9 X 13" pan baking dish, layer: 1/2 pasta, all the provolone, spread w/sour cream, 1/2 the sauce mixture, rest of the pasta, the mozzarella, rest of the sauce, top w/parmesan. Bake 30 minutes (covered) at 350 degrees.

Enjoy!

Here's some other tidbits. If you are even remotely in the area, the Purls on Oracle in Tucson is closing. Here's the details of the sale:

Sale begins April 30th at the Oracle Store ONLY!
Look for HUGE Reductions
Single patterns $1.00
Magazines 50% off
Pattern Books 50% off

4/30 - 5/5 = 25% OFF
5/7 - 5/12 = 30% OFF
5/14 - 5/19 = 35% OFF
5/21 - 5/26 = 40% OFF
As of 5/28 everything will be 50% OFF

ALL SALES WILL BE FINAL!
Oracle stock ONLY!
No store transfers.
No Special Orders.
All merchandise in "as is" condition.
No "hold" or layaways.

Pretty sweet, no? If you are making a day trip of it and want a list of amazing restaurants, let me know!

Here's my last tidbits. These are links to the news items about the Yarn Harlot's trip to Denver.

News item I'm in the 44th second of the video, on the far left. And here's her interview.

Ever thankful, Ruth!

Swatch Marking

I'm swatching some Garnstudio Drops Alpaca to make the Ogee Tunic from Knitting Nature.




It calls for 23 sts = 4" on size US 4 ndls. It's a slippery yarn on the addi turbos so I'm death-gripping it and am up to size 6... still not getting gauge. As I go up a needle size, I separate and mark as follows...

Started with 4's, switch to US 5, knit one row, next row, knit 5, (yo, k2tog, knit 2) 5 times, knit across, knit one more row. Next row, start gauge pattern for more swatching.


Next section, switch to US 6, knit one row, knit 5, (YO, k2tog, knit 2) 6 times, knit rest of row. Knit another row. Next row, re-establish swatch pattern.


Rinse, repeat. This way you can tell which needle you used in which section without having to use any markers. If you get up to double digits (say US 10), then do two rows with the YO's till you get the number of holes you need.

The problem with this tip is if you're using the metric system. I've got no solution. Except for reverting back to some sort of marker (pinning a piece of paper to it?) or writing your results in a notebook.

Bonus tip: The Garnstudio site has hundreds of free patterns. Knitting and crochet!

In other news, I got the first pattern for the Sockamania Knitalong! Very exciting! Of course, my printer isn't working. I've spent the past hour "trouble-shooting". After I take T to school and put D down for his nap, I'm going to call the HP people. (sigh)

Before I sign off, I want to mention a couple more knitting sightings. These were on TV. Last nite's Deal or No Deal had a 19 year old tennis player and her family was there for support. Did anyone else notice the mom's sweater? I told Dave, "I bet she made that." He bets she didn't. It was really pretty!

The other sighting is from Season 3 of The Shield. The show is actually in season 6 but I've been renting the previous seasons from the library. If you haven't seen this show, I recommend it, but only if you have a strong stomach. It's pretty brutal and graphic with the violence. It's about a "corrupt-cop-with-a-heart-of-gold" kind of thing. In season 3, there's a dog handler that the main character (Vic) hooks up with. When they first show her, she's wearing a pretty sweater. The other times they show her, she's wearing this beautifully knit, longish, shawl-collared, wrap cardigan. It's grey and you see it in several of season 3's episodes. Gorgeous!

Still swatching, Ruth!

Massage Monday

Introducing.....

Massage Monday!

I was a massage therapist for 7 1/2 years before we moved here and I became a stay-at-home-mom.

While working as a therapist, I came up with a seminar I gave to businesses called, "Of Tennis Balls and Towels". It's a whole lotta self-massage techniques and stretches you can do at your desk or, well, anywhere, really. We'll start with my favorite...

Take a tennis ball and put it under your desk while you are working. Take your shoes off and roll your feet around on the ball for a few minutes. Then really press and release, press/release, press/release the ball into the floor. (You always want to work from toe to heel.) It's a fabulous foot massage while you're working! (Or sitting and knitting, studying, insert seated activity here.) (Not driving.)

Believe it or not, that simple exercise also helps keep your hamstrings loose. (If you learn anything in massage school, it's that every thing's connected.) Don't believe me? Stand up and touch your toes (or try to). Sit and roll the tennis ball under, say, your right foot for 3-5 min. Stand and try to touch your toes again. Your right hand will be closer to your toes then your left. Go ahead, I'll wait....

See! Ain't it cool!

Come back tomorrow for a more yarn-related tip on Tippa Tuesday.

See y'all then, Ruth!

Birthday Party Tantrums

The boys went to a birthday party yesterday at a place called Pump It Up. It's a jumpy castle place. They have giant inflated slides and jumpy castles and obstacles courses. If you ever go to one of these places kick off your shoes and enjoy! So much fun!

Unfortunately, the party was at a time of day when Davie's usually napping. They had a game with GIANT boxing gloves and padded helmets. He threw his first crying fit because his thumb wouldn't go into the giant thumb space. (Anal much?) He only cries like this when he's really tired.

The second fit came when the birthday kids (twins - boy and girl) were opening their presents. Davis kept going to the present table and trying to score something. I saw he was crying and asked him why. "They're not giving me any presents!" I explained to him that it wasn't his birthday. He cried back, "But. But. But, I ate some cake!!!"

He's only 3. And he's really good at it.

He'll be 4 on May 4th. We will appease the child then!

Getting him some more cake soon, Ruth!

My First Meme!

This was sent to me from Nell at Chicken Knits. Splee!

Interview time...Here's your 5 questions...

1. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Are they all different or do you have a shoe "type"?

I have one pair of tennis shoes that I've been wearing for about a year now. I used to be a total shoe hound but can't afford it anymore. (OK, truthfully, any extra cash I have goes to yarn now.) I also have about 6 pairs of sandals. You get quite a collection of those when living in the desert. They're not much use here (yet) in Colorado, but in Tucson, that's all anyone wears! I have no dressy shoes, unless you count my dressy sandals. I don't have a shoe "type" but I do have a shoe I won't wear. Those wicked pointy toe high heeled torture chambers! I heard this on TV but it's true, "I need a ten-toe shoe, not any of those 7 or 8-toe shoes!"

2. What's your pet peeve? What really annoys you?
Rude people, rude strangers, really. I don't hang out with any rude people. Seriously, what does it take, like 5 extra seconds to straighten your car so your not double-parked? Also, all the males in this house seem to have trouble turning their clothes right side out before they hit the hamper. Grrr.

3. What is one piece of advice that was one of the best you've ever received?

Life's too short, be picky.

4.If you had to pick one color to wear for the rest of your life, what would it be?

No fair. I can't even pick one color yarn to knit with. I almost always choose variegated stuff! If there was a gun to my head, I'd have to say red.

5. Do you have a "green thumb"?

No way. I've been known to kill cactus! I am doing better since we moved to CO. That and the fact that the boys remind me to water our seedlings!

Then add this to the bottom of the post.

Want to play? Here's the scoop:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." (andgive me your email address if you can to make thiseasier on me!)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. Iget to pick the questions.3. You will update your blog with the answers to thequestions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer tointerview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, youwill ask them five questions.

ProstiTots

Did anybody else watch Boston Legal last nite? A mother wanted to sue the "family-oriented" department store for selling Tarties. Tarties are fictionalized versions of Bratz dolls. The mom called them "ProstiTots" which is dead-on appropriate. Sometime last month, the Sunday paper had an article titled "Are We Sending the Wrong Message?", also citing Bratz dolls. Then I turn on the computer and this article is on the front cover of MSN.com

Dave and I initially wanted a boy, then a girl. We got two boys. That's fine, had a moment or two of... I don't know, not disappointment but... a little bummed? Of course, we couldn't be happier with the way things turned out and when I think about it, yeah, thank fate we didn't have any girls. I am so not a girl-mom. I would never buy Barbie. I'd let the daughter collect her allowance and buy her own if she had to have them. However, I would never let a Bratz doll of any kind into our house.

Have ya seen 'em?? They are these little, scantily clad, overly make-upped, trashy looking things. That's all well and good. They have cars and little play night clubs so you've got to figure them to be at least 21. When you're 21 you can wear whatever you like. But then they came out with Baby Bratz.

They were marketed as being the Bratz girls when they were babies. Hmmm. The dolls are tiny babies wearing diapers, midriff-baring tops (some with pierced belly buttons), sassy hair and tons of make-up. The company has just succeeded in selling these wildly popular, completely sexualized baby girl dolls. It makes me nauseous. They have Bratz tots now too. In case the sexy baby is too young for your taste and you prefer your sexy girl to be at least 2 years old. And the news article has the nerve to ask "are we sending the wrong message"??

This article defends Bratz over Barbie by saying how Barbie is white and has limited career and man choices and Bratz are ethnic and represent individuality and more realistic body shapes. The Bratz dolls brought in about 100 million dollars last year, Barbie stilled topped out at about 2 billion worldwide. Personally, I think they both suck as role models/toys for girls. Even when I was a girl, I never like Barbie. Loved her cars and her shoes but she seemed so weird to me. My mom is a curvy, pretty woman who rarely wore make-up.

At the spa I used to work at, they cut hair for Locks of Love . One day I was getting my hair cut the same day an 11 year old girl was getting hers cut for this organization. The hairdresser asked the girl how she wanted her hair done, like Brittany Spears or like Pink? The girl said she wanted neither, that neither one of those girls was a good role model. She proceeded to explain the haircut she wanted, comparing it to no one, just saying, "Short, layered, no bangs please." Her mom was standing behind her smiling proudly. And rightly so. Girls like that (and the moms who raise them) give me hope.

Still, though, glad to have boys, Ruth!

More Sockfoolery

"OK, more urban-legends-turned-tippa's:

I hear tale of a technique where one can knit two socks at the same time and like magic, when you're done, you pull one sock out of the other! Now, Tracy (knitter/teacher extraordinaire) claims this is a real pain in the ass and has something to do with knit one, slip one, something, something, something. She says that if you knit when you should slip, you've knit the two socks together and ruined the whole show. I say:Why not knit two different color socks? You don't skip second sock angst but you end up with two pairs!

Again, I give this tip with the utmost optimism since I, as of yet, haven't learned to knit socks!

Good news, though! I just bought one pair of size one addi's and some sock yarn. Next week, I'll buy the other size 1 addi's and get my first sock lesson! (It's a matter of coupons, people.)"

The above entry is brought to you by my old blog 6/6/06. I had the lesson, it didn't go too well. Not Tracy's fault, mine. Since I wrote this, knitty.com (one of my favorite knitmags!) did
an article about the sock-in-sock technique. Wonder if this technique could work for sleeves knit in the round? Why not? You try it first and let me know how it goes.

I still haven't tried to knit any socks yet but am looking forward to my first pattern from the Sockamania knitalong I joined. I should be getting it May 1st.

I got this deliciousness in the mail last week:


It's Fearless Fibers sock yarn from Etsy (Shades of Teal colorway). It's soft and beautiful and it even smells good! (Yes, I smelled it. Don't judge.)

I'm going to try a mini sock pattern this week with waste yarn. Just to get the feel of it.

Here's your knitting sighting for the week.

I read a lot of kids books. Every nite, for 10-20 min. at story time! A lot of them have knitting hidden here and there in them. Here's a couple...

The Awful Aardvarks Go To School - this is an alphabet book, these types of books almost always have knitting in there somewhere. Usually around the letter K.
Sophie's Masterpiece - this is a lovely book. Beautiful illustrations, lovely story.
Harold's Fairy Tale - this is the second in the Harold and the Purple Crayon series. Harold has his adventures and ends up back at home next to his mother who is knitting in the comfy chair.

Knittin' and Readin', Ruth!