Resistance was futile.

You know those silly questionnaires and quizzes folks have on their blogs that are supposed to reveal something about them? They are called memes. I generally avoid them but this was fun - and spoke to my creative side. My thanks to Javajem (I saw hers first).

It was very interesting to see the pictures that came up for my words and very difficult to chose the perfect picture. At first I thought I would just take the first one. Then so many cool pictures came up. What's a girl to do?

I mostly went for comedy.



1. Cinnamon Bonnie, 2. Summer on the Chesapeake, and the Living is Good, 3. Transit time tunnel, 4. Fly me to the Mooooon..., 5. Big Mike, 6. pb choco banana smoothie, 7. Bad Yeti!, 8. Los burros, 9. Pink Motel, 10. Getting to know you, getting to feel free and easy..., 11. My Most Treasured Possession, 12. t-shirt

Wanna do it? Here's how:

Here are the rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page of results, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker. (Register and log in first, trust me)

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
   
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Please be sure to include the code to credit the photographers.
Piracy is only amusing if you are making fun of Jack Sparrow.

A Sad Day

Earlier today I started a blog entry about how excited I was to announce I had been off of steroids for a week and felt it safe to put it in writing. I also asked for continued prayers for the child of my friend. Brie and her Mom had been living at The Johns Hopkins Children's Center for more than 2 months, seeking a miracle for her Severe Aplastic Anemia. I decided to put the only picture I had of her always smiling face here. I was cropping it a bit when our electricity went out and was still out when I arrived at my usual Thursday night Sit-n-Knit at Mr.Mikes. My knitting friend's faces said it all.

Brie was a sweet girl. This picture is from 2 years ago at a K1P2 Yarn Swap - she got my yarn and I got hers.

Thank You God for lending her to us.

Knitting on PBS

A new knitting show replaces Needle Arts Studio with Shay Pendray on PBS starting July 20. This makes the fourth PBS show in Maryland dedicated to fibre arts (that I’m aware of). Knitting Daily TV will feature Eunny Jang (editor Interweave Knits, designer) Kim Werker (editor Interweave Crochet, author Get Hooked, Crochet Me) Liz Gipson (editor Handwoven, designer), and the former show’s Shay Pendray (host Needle Arts Studio, designer). That’s a lot of talent and each episode should provide oodles of fiber satisfaction. The show will cover many angles of fiber arts and will have a companion website for patterns and clips fully functioning in July at

http://www.knittingdailytv.com

Far out.

Zooming Right Along . . .

. . . like The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival never happened.

I went to The Massachusetts Sheep and Woolcraft Festival when Bobby and I were in New England for ten days at the end of May.

After a car show, The Baseball Hall of Fame and a few days of town hopping on the coast, it was on to stay in The Berkshires for the last leg of our vacation. Saturday was spent at the Massachusetts Sheep and Woolcraft Festival. Such a lovely bunch of laid back sheepie folk. It’s more intimate than MDSW and I could navigate the paved site quite easily on my scooter. The elevator to the fiber competition exhibits was apparently broken (it was blocked off) but Bobby said there wasn't much besides the fleeces so I wasn't that disappointed. There were Sheepdog trials all day and watching the working dogs was quite fun, especially when folks explained the finer points of judging to me. It broke my heart to see a good dog get a contrary sheep who just wouldn’t stay with the other two in the group but chose to run back to the pen and ruin everyone’s high marks. I love seeing the animals – sheep, goats, llamas. There weren’t any alpacas at this fair. Waaaah! I did get to see some shearing and the 4H showmanship contests. It’s serious business for these kids. I said to Bobby, next there will be Alpaca and Llama competitions at these functions. Woo Hoo !

There were two buildings of vendors and lots of outdoor booths, nicely laid out and accessible. There were only about a third I couldn't get into with my wheels and none of them had the big "drop" like at Maryland. Shweeet! In fibre, the lean at this fair is definitely toward spinning and weaving. Roving, roving, roving. And batts. The wheels, spindles and looms for sale were plentiful as well as all the trappings. There were spin-ins and weave-ins but not a knit-in. But yes, there was yarn. I bought some crazy soft white wool to pet for a while and some funky multi hued wool at a booth with discontinued yarns on sale. Bobby bought me a little sheep pin to remember the day. I put it on my hat with my Ravelry pins - oh yes, there were Ravelry folk there. The darling of the modern knitter. I recognized Ravelers and was recognized by my Ravelry gear – it's like a secret handshake. Very cool although there was no formal gathering of the Ravelry clan as there had been at Maryland’s festival. All in all a great day with lovely weather too.

And did I mention the lamburgers? And the $1 hand dipped ice cream cones?

It's good to be a knitter.

I know I am remiss in my duties to write about MDSW. I went. I had fun. I saw friends. I bought cool stuff. I ate lamburgers. I went to the Ravelry gathering Saturday and the party Saturday night. I did not win a prize. I beg your forgiveness for not cataloging my every sight, smell and dollar spent.

I know you are a forgiving lot.

Oh! Did I mention that I finished Bobby's scarf? Now I'm working on the matching hat. A wife's work is never done.

Enjoy the pictures - you'll have to look at the whole trip to see the sheep. If you're a real glutton for stories about the trip, click the button for my brain cancer blog over on the left and there's two days worth of blah blah blah there.

We did have a good time.

These were from a Yarn Harlot stop in Minnesota. I had to share. View top to bottom.










Thanks to The Heathen Houswife for the film

April Showers Brings . . .the Harlot?

Went to a fun lecture by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Yarn Harlot last night where she went on (and on) about knitting as her blog byline says. The girls saved me a spot right in the front row and it was great fun. She's an excellent speaker with a good sense of comedic timing. Her comments on her struggles to be recognized as a writer of knitting humor reminded me of my own pauses when people ask me what kind of music I sing. "Uhhh . . . A Capella. Bawdy and Humor. You know - songs of men and women. Drinking songs . . ." And they give me the deer in the headlights look. So yes Stephanie, when you told your tale of the publishers meeting and the woman who asked you when you were going to write a real book - I got it probably better than anyone else there.




At the end of the question and answer period, someone asked her the date of a blog entry mentioning Calgary and she couldn't remember it. We were then treated to a long bonus tale of her escapade into a hotel hallway wearing nothing but panties that said "Cowgirl" on the butt.

Priceless.

After the lecture, she signed autographs and I did get a book signed. On a whim I got her to sign my kitting bag which she thought was a hoot.

I think she was too.

I finished the little Mock Cables Baby Hat a few weeks ago. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I modified the decreases just a bit to keep the cable theme straight at the top and avoid the pointy top so many others got on Ravelry. It looks nicer I think. No, I didn't write that down for posterity. It's my secret formula.

BWAAAA HAA HAAAAAAAAA!

Funny thing is, they already had the shower for the baby and I didn't find out until my uncle, the Great Grandad told on me the day it was held. It was down in a basement though and I can't navigate steps yet. I'll try to get it to Billy and his girlfriend soon. I hope it gets lots of oohhs and aaahhhhs.

The Mock Cables were really fun. You slip a stitch, knit two more then use the slipped one to create the illusion of the cable cross. See? That long stitch that stretches sideways has two knit stitches going up through it. Verrrry cool. I'm finally able to "read" some of my knitting. (me?) It's about time.






My model is Emmy Lou. My Grandmother made her for my third birthday. The woman had thirteen (13!) children plus the grandkids(9 at the time)and still made me a present by hand. She made lots of handmade toys and samplers, so did my other grandmother. Guess I come by it honestly.







Bobby's scarf is now longer and gorgeous. This stuff is lovely to knit with but I wish the twist was the other way to better keep the definition of the two colors wrapped around each other. Ahhh me. It's soft and warm and he loves it just the same. Maybe I'll get it done now because (drum roll please)

my hands seem to be okay now

All of a sudden I noticed they weren't doing the wonky finger cramping thing any more. I swear it was related to the steroids/swelling putting pressure on some nerve somewhere. How come doctors don't know which nerve can affect hands that way? Nobody ever had their hands go wonky before? At my recent doctor's appointment they said it could be from the radiation or even the chemo. They don't know nothing.

Sheesh.

Anyway, I can concentrate my knitting efforts on his scarf now and won't have to stop every two rows. Of course there is the little matter that he gave me the yarn for Christmas when he asked for the scarf. But there was no real deadline and his birthday isn't until May . . . Weird thing is, I'm out of the knitting habit now. Since my hands got all weird, I haven't knit much. Gotta remedy that.

Countdown to Sheep and Wool

~~ BONUS POST ~~

Two great bloggers Jody at Javajem and Sarah from by Sarah are counting down the days to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival on a new blog called . . . ready . . .

Countdown to Sheep and Wool

The website is preamble to what will be at the Cloverhill Yarn Shop booth which will feature the wares of no less than 18 independent fiber artists. I think that's a very cool way to promote your peeps. Jody and Sarah are having a contest every day from now 'till then on the site so check 'em out. Win some yarn!

Don't know what Maryland Sheep & Wool is? Whoa sheepdog, you been livin' in a cow pasture? Check them out by clicking the sheepies on their official emblem for this year.

(which is butt ugly and looks like one sheep is humping the other but hey, they didn't ask me to pick it)

Maryland Sheep & Wool