Kathen Knits

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

2006-07-25T00:56:00.000-05:00

I really like this Blogger template. I really do. But I think it is perfect for my knitting adventures, but not for my goofy weird stuff.

For goofy weird stuff, I much prefer my other website. I will move the link up on the sidebar, so it is easier to get to.

No sense irritating knitting people who might still visit (nah, not likely!) with drivel about my job.

I promise to write as soon as I have KNITTING NEWS.

Love to All.

Email so nice, I wrote it thrice

2006-07-25T00:17:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from an e-mail I sent today. Names have been changed to protect the innocent/guilty.

By the way, I will be posting this and future crap of this type to my other weblog, here is the link:
http://questionkathen.blogspot.com/

Hiya Tina!

I can't quite remember what my questions were now! I am very slow on checking my emails, since I started working at the Hotel.

Prob'ly, when I first emailed you (or was it comment on your blog? I forget) I was mystified by something the cook told me. She implied it came from the inspector. Fly swatters are "dirty" and must not be found/used in the restaurant or kitchen. EH?! So the flies that come into the restaurant from the rooms or the doors the customers open...what?! We let 'em just fly around and die of old age?! Catch 'em with our hands? HERD them out the door again? We cannot use chemical bombs around the food. Apparently, fly-paper is a no-no, like the flyswatters. Don't tell anyone, but the head cook stuck some sort of sticky clear "fly-tape" onto the back door, 2 strips about 6 inches by 2 inches each. One fly flew onto one of them, by accident, I think. They are too busy swarming around the garbage can, 3 feet away from the strips. Hubby found the actual legislation for the "Food Service Industry" on the net. It has about one small paragraph about "pests", which covers insects, rodents, everything. It basically says, "Keep 'em out!" Nothing about flyswatters being too dirty to hang beside the kitchen back door.

I just read what I have written, and I sound crazy. Well, it's a weird situation. I feel a weird, strange, bizarre gratitude (!) to this job, because when I started, I weighed around 200 lbs, and I huffed and puffed my way through my cleaning chores. But I was eating way less, and getting excercise. Hell, this job is like a gym membership they pay ME for! And when I had to work in the kitchen...I was nervous enough that the LAST thing I wanted to eat was ANYTHING on the menu in there! So now, two months later, I am about 166 lbs. and I feel just like a SPRING CHICKEN! One who can borrow (some of) her daughter's clothes! Woot! (It's only first thing in the morning I feel totally elderly. Totally. Ibuprofen and caffiene are my best friends in the morning.)Anyway, that's the scoop on my questions.

Except...do you know if there are any rules about room-cleaning you could pass along? Or tell me how to find them on the net? Or have someone who works in a Real Hotel In The City email me and tell me how to do it? I am thinking I should be using the "Official Manitoba Government Sanctioned Bleach-Solution For Disinfecting, May Be Put In A Spray-bottle, Don't Forget To Label And Make New Stuff Every Week" on the toilets, tubs, floors, sinks in the bathrooms... Right now, we are using a commercial cleaner/disinfectant spray, and wiping down with a clean rag...but I know the instructions say to kill germs, we are supposed to leave it on for 10 minutes...HA HA HA. We smear it around with a clean rag, sure, but I dunno how disinfecting it is. I know the Bleach Solution sprayed on after the surface is cleaned and clean-looking would prob'ly be better. (It is AMAZING how weak the Official Solution is: TWO TABLESPOONS per gallon of water. I would use scented bleach, of course...)

Anyway, if you know any computer literate, friendly English-speaking cleaning-people who might want to educate a poor, ignorant (real meaning of that word!) country gal, please forward this email to them! I know you are the "Cute Gal Who Works At The Front Desk" type of hotel worker. That's why I'm not expecting you to answer these weird questions. Anyway, Thanks for listening to my rant. (Reading my rant).

Have y'all picked out your vacation destination yet? I'll have to go read your blogs now! Hee hee! I love to live vicariously through you young'uns.

Luv, Nargus' Mom

It's all in the details...

2006-07-23T23:02:00.000-05:00

So today, we have found out for sure that SMALL THINGS MATTER. Especially when they are accidently sucked down the drain of a hotel kitchen sink.

The other night, I was working in the kitchen as the ~~chief food heater~~ ~~3rd string cook~~ chef, and one of my duties is to wash the pots and pans. The waiter or waitress gets to wash ALL the customer's dishes, plates, cups, cutlery. (Tip your waiters well, they may have to work very hard where you cannot see!) Anyway, I was washing dishes too ('cause I'm a nice kid) and I was using a dishcloth. The young man didn't know about the dishcloth, and I left it...in the water. Yup, he pulled the plug. Slurp! And he didn't realize it. So when I pulled the plug on my last dishwater a lot later...hmmm...that's draining kinda slow...

I got to work early this afternoon, and all the bar toilets were flooding out into the bar, all the restaurant toilets were flooding out into the restaurant, all the kitchen sinks...well, you get the idea. The plumber was just starting to try to figure out where the blockage might be, and I told him that my dishcloth went missing last night. So they started there.

Heh heh heh...sure enough, there it was. The plumber's snake dragged it out. Wasn't looking too good, after it's little adventure. I found a nice little spot in the garbage for it, it won't be doing that again.

So now things are back to SNAFU at work. After they fixed the drain, I got to do more laundry, so tomorrow I should just be able to rock cleaning those rooms.

Today was a waste of time in the room cleaning department, it was so hot. I tried to pre-cool the rooms I was about to do, but somebody set the conditioner units on "stun". Big noise, no cooling: the dials were set to 1 instead of 10.

Yup, details matter. The customers need to find the right amounts of cups, coffee, sugars, glasses, soap, shampoo...all those things that make your hotel stay bearable. They will have to figure out how to work the air conditioners on their own, though. I will leave them set to "MAX".

More Fun

2006-06-27T07:06:00.000-05:00

Well, things are lookin' up here. The other Sous-Chef (sp?) is back at work after minor surgery, and I have time off from the kitchen. So just the rooms. There is nothing on the room-cleaning schedule, it is just blank. So I guess it is just me, although the boss is firmly convinced that the other lady, the one who quit, will be back next Monday to resume her job. This would mean: 1. The boss is crazy. 2. The only way to get vacation time around here is to quit and come back. Neither is a pretty picture.

So on the KNITTING front, which is a much more pleasant subject, I found another neat blog. (I find them all by accident, and I don't seek out more knitting blogs, because there are a GAZILLION knitting blogs. I don't have time to KNIT, much less go lookin' for more to read. But, I followed a cool comment on the Yarn Harlot's June 23 post, and found out who Roxie of the comments is. Click on this post title to see her.

I'll write more when there's more news. Over and Out.

What the heck have I been doing?

2006-06-17T23:26:00.000-05:00

Well, kiddies, I just got home from my job. I signed on at the local hotel for employment. You can click for the rest of this post, if'n ya wanna know what I do. You still with me? Great. I signed on to this job as a housekeeper. Maid. Chambermaid. Cleaning lady. You get the picture. This little local hotel has a bar, restaurant, and 12 rooms to let. 2 rooms are used by the owners, and one room still has the stuff belonging to the late father of the former owner. 2 owners ago. (In a small town, things like that happen. Mike sold the hotel to George, and then George sold it to Etinder and Gagan's family. I think they are family, or maybe just Managers, I am not sure. Etinder signs my cheques, anyway.) There is a rumour going around the coffee shops that the hotel has been sold again. This always happens, and the scuttlebut is usually wrong. I know I haven't been told anything. Anyway...

So just when I'm getting the hang of doing the rooms in a prompt and efficient manner, the Chief Cook informs me that I will be doing cooking duties in the restaurant 2 days a week. YIKES! I told them I am not sure I am the one for the job, but everybody keeps telling me, "Not to worry, don't panic, you'll do fine." Right. Hubby and I are the Adult ADD Poster Children. It takes me a long time to get into a routine. Way longer if I have to make up the routine myself as I go along.

Doing the rooms is OK. I figure I have stayed in enough nice (and not-so-nice) hotel rooms in my lifetime, I know what hotel patrons want: cleanliness. And convenience. The first few times I did rooms, it took a long time, mostly because there were a couple of things I had to do, so I thought. Then I had to start arranging the "maids' room" a little.

Now the lady that was the maid when I started is quitting. Yikes. I am not sure yet what happens now, do I get all the maid work? Do I still cook 2 days a week? The maid I am talking about also worked in the kitchen a few days a week, but disliked that duty a lot. The lady that worked in the bar a lot was transferred out of town with her husband and his job, so they have a new girl in the bar. Plus the lady who did rooms, who is quitting, was also working in the bar. I think we may be getting short-staffed!

There was an array of waitresses working in the restaurant, but some of them are finished at the end of June, I guess they are high-school kids who want a fun summer life. One of them is going to hockey school, I think. So my darling daughter, who thought the waitress job was so part-time she needed another part-time job to make enough money for university, had to call off the second job already. I guess that's a good thing. She is so good at the waitress job, it shocks and pleases me no end. Greeting customers, serving the water and taking orders, taking the coffee, soups, salads, the entré (when the cook puts it up, on the "ready to go" shelf with the heat lamps), the desserts, ringing in the payment, cleaning the table for the next customers...whew! And the restaurant has, I dunno, 15 or 16 tables? And the customers fill and vacate these tables in no particular order? Aaaughh! I surely couldn't do this. But she does great, and the tips make the difference between a crummy minimum-wage job(i.e. chambermaid) and a good job.

Hey, I get tips too. So far: $3.06, 6 beer, a chocolate bar, a miniature chocolate bar, and a packet of Kool-Aid. Not just any Kool-Aid either: Mystery Flavour, Mystery Colour Kool-Aid. Woot! That was today, actually, I can hardly wait to make it tomorrow.

So that's what I been doing. Now I am going to log off, and go shower off the layers of sweat and deep-fryer flavour and aroma. Talk to you later.

Eh?

2006-06-06T17:55:00.000-05:00

Well, hello there. SURPRISE! I am making a post. I had to take a hiatus from knitting, blogging, and a lot of other things I really enjoy doing, to concentrate on cleaning up the poopy mess left by my failed business. That, and finding a new job. Since I kinda like the analogy, about that poopy mess? Let's just say we scrubbed, sprayed it with Lysol disinfectant, and threw a scatter-rug over it. Every few weeks, around payday oddly enough, I will trip over that scatter-rug and lavish some ~~hard-earned money~~ more disinfectant upon the ~~ugly, reeking mess~~ spot. For about the next 20 to 30 years. (I smell a book here..."Kill Your Ailing Business Before It Tries To Kill You!")

Vivid Memories

2006-03-09T17:08:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had the experience of busily doing something mundane, like housework or dishes, and SUDDENLY a memory, over 35 years old, just WASHES over you like a big wave? A delightful memory of the sight of your 9-year-old foot encased in a beige hand-knit sock (over beige tights) as your father tightens the laces of your figure skate?

No? Well, lemme tell ya, it's beautiful. Add to that the knowledge that Dad tightened 3 pairs of skates at least 5 times a week, for about 10 years, and Mom knit all the beige skating socks (plus mitts, hats, and scarves) that those rink-rats needed over that time, and...well, I just had to sit down. At the computer. Searching for a sock pattern. Sucked into the socks vortex.

The one that caught my eye was "Dad's Function Over Form Socks" by Jessica Minier Mabe at about.com. That sounded so practical and comfortable. I wanted to make a pair of socks for Dear Hubby Trucker, not to wear under boots (even though the pattern author's intention is boot socks, but I anticipated my first socks would be a bit, er, lumpy for that) but to wear in the bunk of the Kenworth if it got a bit chilly at night.

So (Bad blogger! No in-progress pictures!) I knit one. (Next sock I will definitely take pictures, 'cause the way I do it is comical. Instead of four double-pointed needles, I use three different circular needles.)
Tried in vain to get a good shot of the sock without revealing my winter-legs...

But it seems the best way to photograph this sock is empty:

Pattern details: Done exactly as pattern, except used smaller needles for a firmer sock (plus hubby's a men's size 7) and made the cuff 1-1/2 inches instead of 8-1/2. Gives it a cozy slipper-like quality. I love it.

The Podium

2006-02-28T14:00:00.000-06:00

You're darned right I'm putting it on my sidebar!

Gold!

2006-02-26T15:37:00.000-06:00

Ahoy Mateys! We made it! We have achieved the near impossible. Click on the link at the end of this post to see.
Here you can see the erratic photography of an excited knitter. I cut off the top of the hat in this picture, but it is done.

I thought I should show the hat on a real head, but the only one available at the moment is DS15's buddy, OPS15 (Other Pirate Son 15yrs.old). OPS15 has way less hair, and a bit less head circumference than DS15, but DS15 just went down to the rumpled Rumpus Room after trying it on a few dozen times for me, sans photographic evidence. He refuses to come up again, hence this pic.

I will tack on a proper pic of DS15 in the hat asap.
Update: managed to snag this one pic of Busy Man. (The top of the hat is there, just camera-shy.) Everything about the pattern went according to plan. I did not finish off the top with the called-for three inches of i-cord, knotted cutely. No pom-pom, either. Busy Man wanted it finished cleanly, so I tried to finish it without the point on top that my hats used to get, and (thank God!) it worked: a nice clean flat top.

Woohoo! it's over!

The Long Programme

2006-02-22T13:20:00.000-06:00

Here we are, about 1 day into the Long Programme. You can see the teeny little skeletal jaws have formed.

Amen!

2006-02-21T10:21:00.000-06:00

Click Here! Absolutely, 100%, couldn't have said it better myself!

The Short Programme

2006-02-16T21:19:00.000-06:00

Well, here is my short programme. It's the choosing of the pattern, the getting of the wool, and the dinking around of the design.

I have always been a big fan of these Hello Yarn pirates. But seeing as how I am a cute pirate

and not a bloodthirsty, cutthroat pirate, I thought this hat would be way too much for me to knit in less than 4 months.
(click to see the rest)
Now, for Christmas my daughter gave me this:
in which I found this:

So. Now I need to plug in some piratey goodness into the hat and replace the snowflakes with these:And we have a cuff!knit in squeaky acrylic for utmost washability. Note all the little stitch markers where the pattern repeats will be.
Next, the long programme. Woo hoo! Arrrrrr!>

Canadian Division

2006-02-02T15:38:00.000-06:00

This is the button for the Canadian Division of "Team What The Hell Was I Thinking?", crudely crafted by me after I saw the original at
Uncle Leona's Day Camp. Seems totally to be today's choice of teams for me. An elite athlete like myself falls into so many categories.

Feast of Bridgid

2006-02-02T13:50:00.000-06:00

The Yarn Harlot has kindly informed us of this important event happening today, people! Reya's Excellent Invitation to a Silent Online Poetry Reading:
WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading
WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2006
WHERE: Your blogWHY: To celebrate the Feast of Bridgid, aka Groundhog Day
HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2. I don't imagine zillions of bloggers will partake of this online celebration of midwinter, but I am curious to see who is called to join this project, and especially curious to read the poetry that gets published.
RSVP: If you plan to publish, will you either leave your blog address as a comment on this post, or send me an email? I'd like to collect the poems.Here's her email, should you wish to participate:
reyasdottir AT verizon DOT net -- perform the usual anti-spambot transformations with the AT and the DOT.

As my favourite poem, I am going to attempt to remember the only poem I can recall taking a small part in creating.
Now, this needs some set-up:
The Scene: Sparling Hall at the University of Winnipeg.
The Cast: Me and two other *Sparling's Darlings.
The Occasion: Meeting up after some afternoon classes located in Lockhart Hall.
The Reason: The same reason for any outrageously sacreligious parody of esteemed poetry of a National Treasure nature: We were teenagers and we thought we were the poo.

In Lockhart Hall

In Lockhart Hall, the looseleafs blow
between the students, row on row
who fall asleep, the reason why:
lecturers, still bravely speaking, sigh
scarce heard amid the snores that grow.

We are the dead.
Short days ago we lived, took notes,
watched *filmstrips glow.
Drank and were drunk, and
now we lie in Lockhart Hall.

Take up our pens? To classes go?
To you, with failing hands, we throw
our texts: be they yours to underline.
If you get "A's", we'll all know why.
You did not sleep, 'though looseleafs blow,
In Lockhart Hall.

*Note to any present students of the U. of W. : Find the oldest professor on campus. He might remember what a "Sparling's Darling" or a "filmstrip" was.

Like the Ace of Spades...

2006-01-30T11:25:00.000-06:00

Pay no nevermind to that I.V. stand. (Thanks, Nicole.)

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable
At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty
You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it
Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Fidelity

2006-01-29T11:42:00.000-06:00

I am shocked to discover that I am relatively committed in a knitting project relationship. Many extremely funny blogs ( Yarn Harlot leaps screaming to mind) are based on flitting from one yarn and/or project to another. I laugh at them until I cry. Then I go back to this:

I have turned it 90 degrees so you can see it: The left arm on the left side, the front part (so far) on the top, the back at the bottom, and the neck hole that looks surprisingly right for a neck hole. If you click on the image, you will get the original orientation, which is much less nauseating to look at. It shows all of the approximately 250 stitches splayed out on a loveseat in all their monotonous stockinette glory. I made the body part longer, since I am (ahem) fond of draping fabric in an effort to hide the hips. (Doesn't work, but it's a compulsion. That silhouette of me by the title is pretty accurate.)

Tough choices

2006-01-27T12:17:00.000-06:00

So many choices, so little time! Like a French Ice Dancer, I might change affiliations. Because this is just too funny:

Alpha-meme

2006-01-27T00:26:00.000-06:00

Don't click here! I'm warning you, don't click here! If you do, you'll be tagged, and then you'll be sorry you clicked here.

P.S. Avoid clicking on this post's title, too.

Lobotomy!

2006-01-20T09:53:00.000-06:00

Ok, I modified the sock chart. Took out some of the forehead. Lobotomized him, sorta. You can see from the blank part on top how much I moved the top down.

I think this is the perfect skull for my project. The Pirate skull from the hat and mitts is a little glowering, but this guy's not too cartoony.

Motif

2006-01-20T09:02:00.000-06:00

Tried to make my own "skully" motif. Yuck. It was horrible. No matter what I did, it looked like a big black and white smily face. So I'm stickin' with Hello Yarn's great skulls...unless I can remember where that great skully sweater lives on the web...

...OOOooh! Ooooh! I found a great one at Hello Yarn on this sock pattern. I am thinking I will make a black hat with this white skull, and if I have time, I will knit another hat as lining. Maybe with flames...eh, we'll see. We can burn that bridge when we get there.

Rippin' Hat 1.0

2006-01-18T11:36:00.000-06:00

Well, I am still dancing around like Ed Grimly, (although I look more like Edith Prickly!) with the sheer joy of planning DS15's "Rippin Hat". For inspiration, I have turned to this free pattern for an ear-flap style hat:

and this free pattern for the motif.

I thought maybe this motif at first:

I guess it all depends on what kind of *Wool I end up using. The Hello Yarn pattern for the hat would take me waaaaay longer than 16 days to knit.

Now I just have to figure out if I am going to line the hat, and if I am going to knit the lining or use arctic fleece. I think a knitted lining would stretch better. Hey, I could even knit his name into the lining. Hmmmm. Everything depends on where I am at day 12 or 13, eh?

*Wool=acrylic knitting worsted, unless I can get out of town to shop. Don't hate me, that's all they have here.

Olympic Fever!!!

2006-01-16T19:46:00.000-06:00

Wow! I am so excited, I must say! (I'm dancing around like Martin Short on SNL!)

I just paid a visit to the *venue for the 2006 Winter Knitting Olympics. How cool is that? I am going to start training--right away.

I can hardly wait for the ~~thrashing and gnashing of teeth that is me casting on~~ Opening Ceremonies.

*You can too, just click on this post's title.

Late Breaking News

2006-01-05T21:20:00.000-06:00

So my dear, sweet 15 year old son had a little mishap last night. He slipped running up some stairs, and broke the 4th metatarsal bone of his right foot. (I think that's how you say it, anyway. I looked it up in online "Gray's Anatomy". )

It could be a lot worse, since it is broken, but not out of place. All we gotta do is keep it all in alignment, keep him off of the foot for a day or two until the swelling goes down, and he gets a cast.

So as he's getting wheeled down the hospital corridor to get his rental crutches, he says, "Wow, my first broken bone!"
I wanted to smack him! Sure, I got my first broken bone at his age (right ring-fingertip crushed by slapshot--my fault, I was out of position) but what a thing to say while your mother is pushing a wheelchair you're sitting in. At least, 15 year old boys should heal fairly fast.

Bunnies!

2005-12-26T21:27:00.000-06:00

The adorable bunny is a Meme: just by viewing it, tag, you're it! Now you can post this bunny on your blog! Thanks to Norge Thingy , who has exemplified the true spirit of Christmukah in many startling ways.

Merry Merry!

2005-12-25T00:44:00.000-06:00

Merry Chrismas, one and all!
The tree that I see was up on December 8...we finally got decorated. Enough to say it's decorated.
We got our Christmas funds to go shopping on Dec. 23. We did it. We hurt after, but we did it.
DTH got Gigi from Gimli. Dear Sister and Brother made it to Amma and Grampa's place.
Our wrapping is done before 2 am. on Christmas Eve.
Yippee!
May all your Christmases be bright!
Luv from Kathen.

Knittin' spot

2005-12-08T14:38:00.000-06:00

Here's where this meme got me.
Show your favourite knittin' spot!

stealth afghan

2005-11-17T22:21:00.000-06:00

Another WIP sneaks into my life. Spot the stealth afghan clinging to the plaid chair, it's location given away only by the telltale big honkin' needle it's hanging from. In real life, it really does look like the upholstry of the chair. Maybe I'll just make a pillow. We'll see how much fabric you can knit with 4 skeins of Bernat Satin, then we'll decide if I wanna buy any more and continue.

How to Poppy

2005-11-14T14:06:00.000-06:00

(Yes, this post is about 2 weeks late. Sorry. It took me that long to draw the poppies.)

How to make your Poppy stick to your coat for longer than 5 minutes... (This even works on sweaters and t-shirts!)

1. Slap poppy onto your chest (over your heart, I think, is proper) where you want it to be. Collar is also good. (See fig. 1)

2. Pull pin out almost all the way, then stick it in under the fabric (under, then sideways! not into your chest!) until that razor-sharp pinpoint is close to the edge of the poppy, but still under it. (see fig. 2)

3. Push point up and through the red part of the poppy, close to the edge. Continue pushing pin until the head is right in the center where it belongs. (See fig. 3)

That's all there is to it. Nobody will notice you've pierced the edge of your poppy, and the poppy will stay there until you take it off. No, I'm not clever enough to have invented this, someone had to show it to me. Then I slapped by forehead, said, "D'Oh!", and have been doing it this way ever since.

Royalty...

2005-11-12T12:10:00.000-06:00

...I always knew it! (Ha ha ha! Laugh, Clare! Thanks to Norge Thingy for this one.)

The Traditional Princess

You are generous, graceful, and practical with both
feet planted firmly on the ground. You tend to
be a little on the old-fashioned side. You
value home, hearth, and family life and love to
be of service to others.

Role Models: Snow White, Maid Marian

You are most likely to: Discover a hidden talent
for spinning straw into gold.

What Kind of Princess are You? - Beautiful Artwork (Original Music is BACK!!!)
brought to you by Quizilla

serendipity

2005-11-07T01:09:00.000-06:00

DHtrucker accidently found a cross-stitch/knitting site when he was searching for a barbeque recipe(!) (He secretly believes most things lead to knitting now.)
Anyway, follow this and scroll down to the coffee piece. Hysterical! It's right after the Alpacas!

http://www.nn.dlpgraphics.ca/blog/index.php?cat=1

my picture

2005-11-02T14:44:00.000-06:00

ok, why won't blogger change my picture in the profile of this blog??? I put in a picture that looks like a human being. Do I have to make a whiny post like this one for it to change?

Update: That's what you get for dinking around with templates. Pretty soon you have to realize you have made it your template, and you have to look hard at it and figure out how it works. For some reason, this template has a specific url for the picture, and doesn't just show the profile image. So now my pic is squashed down, making me look even fatter than I already am. Pffffft!

Which City?

2005-10-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

You belong in Winnipeg.

You're a cute chick looking for adventure, and you hate mosquitos.
Which is why you're attracted to the fogged streets of Winnipeg.
Strolling across the Esplanade Riel, large Tim's coffee in hand,
and shopping at Polo Park and The Forks Market.
And cute Manitoba guys, what could be better?

What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-)

Basking

2005-10-07T15:36:00.000-05:00

Basking in the glow (well, it's really faint when it gets all the way to me, but still) of the Yarn Harlot's article in USA Today, I finally found it online. It is hiding in tech-talk, but here it is:

Link!

I saw a lot of drek about other non-knitting celebrities on the way, so in case you want to cut to the chase, I am posting this link. I hope it works!

Yeah, right

2005-10-07T01:08:00.000-05:00

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern.

A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.

A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything.

No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-)

Thievery

2005-10-06T14:47:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I went on blogger, decided I had nothing to say, and then logged out. And that's when it happened: They have a goofy thing where they roll a list of recently-updated blog titles past you (those good bloggers, the ones who post) and I clicked on one about quilting. Dunno why, I guess I wanted to see how quilters blogged, as opposed to knitters? Anyway, this quilting blog was right there, and I clicked on it. Turns out it was a very funny, Canadian blog about quilting and--you guessed it--knitting.

It's called Even Quilters Mouth Off on Occasion.

So now, I am lifting her September 30 post, the whole thing, and pasting it here. Because it was really good, and I couldn't say it better myself.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Found this on Norma's blog, and even though same-sex marriage is legal in Canada (yay Canada!), I had to post it - very funny, in a thought-provoking way. Kind of shoots the anti gay marriage arguments in the foot.

So, without further ado, I give you Reasons Why Gay Marriage Should Not Be Allowed in America ...

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, liposuction and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans...

-------------

Re-post this if you believe in legalizing gay marriage, or are happy to have same sex marriage legal already where you live.

And yes, I am of the opinion that same-sex marriage is a GOOD THING. 'Cause they're people, ya know?

P-e-o-p-l-e, not P-e-r-v-e-r-t-s. Take that, so called "religious right"! Phooey on you!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

4600, Baby!

2005-10-02T23:40:00.000-05:00

I am back from my trucking adventure! Precisely 4,600 kilometres later, I have seen a lot, and learned a lot. (That's 2,839 miles, but who's counting.) Sing with me, now, "Six days on the road, and I'm gonna make it home tonight...".

One of the things I have learned is: a Caterpillar 330 Excavator is reeeeally heavy and quite wide. You need flashing lights all over the place, banners on your bumpers saying you are wide, and red flags on all 4 corners, just in case people miss the flashing lights.

The other thing I learned is that even though the rig with this "busy machine" on it weighed about 60 tons (NOT exaggerating!) and the ride seemed very smooth, the buddy seat was too bumpy a ride to knit. (Awwwwww.) DHtrucker says he'll try to make his next truck one with air-ride seats on both sides. (Awwwww.) (I love him.)

I'll have to ask DS15 if the computer was acting funny while we were away (he stayed with Grandpa and Amma but visited home once in a while) because it won't let me get my pictures from my camera. Something about a Windows dll file missing. Hmmmm. That sounds expensive...

Goin' Truckin'!

2005-09-27T01:01:00.000-05:00

I'm supposed to be going trucking with DHtrucker in the morning! Spent a lot of time packing today and tonight. So we'll continue when I get back. Woo Hoo!

Meme means...

2005-09-24T18:20:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure, but I think "meme" means, "It's all about me!me!" Har har. Anyway, I read a great knitting blog that tagged anyone who wanted it, and since I am desperate for content until I get my living room clean enough to photograph, I decided that meant me. So the same goes for you! Anyone who reads this and wants to be tagged, "Tag--you're it!"

Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.

"It has also become fun to knit. "

Ha! That was Fiesta the Poncho, ~~DD17~~ DD18's fuzzy poncho.

It did become fun, despite a dismal start. And it looked great on her--until we washed it. Then it needed fluffing, primping, combing--and a drawstring, which we haven't gotten around to doing yet. DD18 can do that--she lives in the big city now, near so many LYS's.

Back to work!

blue sky

2005-09-23T15:30:00.000-05:00

My daughter was embarrased by my sky pic, so here is hers, taken out her car window coming home. That blue at the top? THAT's Manitoba!

Sky's the limit!

2005-09-23T09:35:00.000-05:00

Since knitting posting will not happen until tomorrow, here is some sky for Sandy.
Manitobans love to brag about having the bluest sky in the world. But not when it's raining out.

just 15 mins.

2005-09-15T15:13:00.000-05:00

Like the Flylady says, "You can do anything for fifteen minutes!"

This means no matter how big the job, if you tackle it in fifteen minute chunks, you will get it done eventually.

Wish me luck, or I'll never get back to knitting.

Flylady's gonna help me.

2005-09-13T09:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I am trying to tidy up around here, mostly 'cause I want to show off my WIP, but I can't because there is nowhere in this house clean enough to photograph. Not a couch. Not a few square metres of carpet. Nothin'.

I looked up the Flylady again yesterday, thinking she would inspire me to move. She inspired me last night; I stopped moping around 'cause hubby's off trucking, long enough to...tidy up my sidebar links and redesign my template. Nothin' like housework avoidance! But it will get better. I can feel it. A little prayer, a little light and fresh air (while we still can) into this house, and I'll be humming along.

Yeah, I gotta stop doing stuff at night. I am not creative then, just tired and stoopid. I made a bunch of underlined stuff that are not links, and my links have colours that are not pleasing to me this morning. Oh well.

Onward! (Gotta key up, here: YEEEEHAAAAA! )

It's a Good Thing.

2005-09-12T20:25:00.000-05:00

Oh yes. The quiet was good...very good...

Bless that School!

2005-09-07T14:12:00.000-05:00

Ok, folks, just like the Yarn Harlot said just the other day, the first day of school should be a national holiday for mothers. I have only been off work (the store I worked in closed) for about 6 days (6 measly days!) and I am eagerly imagining that legendary peace and quiet!

DD17 18 is at her second day of classes at "U. of Squeeeeee!", and DS15 has been entertaining his pals here during their last 2 days of summer vacation. Their idea of entertainment is all things wrestling. Video games, film clips on the computter, tapes of the thrice-weekly TV shows, and eating as if they all wanted to become heavyweight contenders soon, and they need to bulk up, y'know?

I can almost imagine the delicious quiet.

Oliver's Fund

2005-08-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

Here is step one in my effort to make a button for "Oliver's Fund", Oliver is the little boy of a British knitter, Emma. (She calls him,"my little chick".) He needs an expensive, supportive, motorised wheelchair to get around.

Here is step two. the URL. http://www.emma.prettyposies.com/

Step three will be to remember how to put the link under the button!

update: Oooh, I did it! Complete with wordy intro. See right!

Thanks, Norge Thingy!

2005-08-13T09:54:00.000-05:00

Your Outrageous Name Is

Amanda Hugnkiss

Outrageous Name Generator

Knittin' Gollum

2005-07-26T18:30:00.000-05:00

Good gravy, take a look at the knitting gollum! My daughter took a pic of me with the newfangled camera, and made it into a link to my blog, on her blog. I'll post it here, as soon as I get home. Not flattering, but strangely I find it very funny. Her link is called HS Senior on my sidebar.Update: It is now called "Confessions of a ~~H.S.Grad~~ University Freshman" on the sidebar. It's a cool site--but you don't have to go there to see the Knittin' Gollum. She is now in residence as my pic on the Blogger profile. How incredibly flattering it is. In a larger size it looks way more manic and deranged!

28C is hot!

2005-07-10T15:45:00.000-05:00

Can't knit anymore cuz it's hot out and I have to do dishes. No automatic dishwasher. No central air. So...

Strategy #1. fan

Strategy #2. Broomstick skirt worn as strapless dress:

The challenge: about 3 hours worth of dishes. The result of knitting on a stupid one-piece knitted hoodie for a week without stopping for basic house hygiene. Uck.

LIVE 8

2005-07-02T18:18:00.000-05:00

Are YOU having supper tonight? Barbeque? Restaurant? Foraging in the fridge for leftover meatloaf?

How about signing your name on the Live8 Petition? We are sooo fortunate to be able to do the above things. Let's tell them leaders to make poverty history.

http://www.live8live.com/

here's the link. go to it. or not. But think about it every time you burp this weekend. Or let out your belt a little.

Grad!!!!

2005-06-30T00:37:00.000-05:00

This lovely young woman is my daughter, who graduated, and got a couple of gold cords (highest mark in a class) to boot. Impressive bunch of kids: a class of eleven who, when you put all the courses together, succeeded in twenty-three different senior level courses.

I still haven't recovered after doing my SafeGrad parental supervising duties Monday nite. I must have looked reeeeally bad at 3:30 am when my daughter decided to leave, cuz they told me to go home and not come back. Found out today that I was supposed to come back. Ooops.

The girl went to her friends grad ceremonies last nite, then was an escort tonight at another grad. She has the energy of the teenager.

Make Poverty History!

2005-06-24T23:04:00.000-05:00

Wow, how cool is this, blogger does images now--all by itself. (I think I can make the image into a link...if I work reeeeeally hard at it. I forget this stuff so easily!)

Click here: www.makepovertyhistory.ca

More realizations

2005-05-30T12:23:00.000-05:00

I have figured out that I can never read other blogs until after I have posted on my own. That way, I won't be discouraged and feel inadequate. And how can I improve if I don't practice?

I have figured out that this new template has a problem: The comments don't seem to show the commenter's info. They all look anonymous. So leave your names if you comment! until I get this fixed.

Famous Knitter Moments

2005-05-30T12:17:00.000-05:00

It seems that lately I have had several “famous knitter moments”, that is, moments that remind me of the exploits of some famous knitters whose blogs I have been reading of late.

Moment #1: I was waiting in a restaurant for my teenage son, who was playing in a card tournament. I was, of course, eating and knitting. I went to the washroom, and as I turned to close the door, what did I see but a spare ball of wool lying fifteen feet behind me in the middle of the restaurant aisle, the trail of wool still leading to my pocket.

Moment #2: I remarked to my dear hubby that a few of the people in my email group for the “domestically challenged” were also knitters. He smiled at me and said, “ Well, of course that would make sense, knitters don’t do housework.” Hmmmm.

Moment #3: My first customer of the day, here at my place of employ, was a (usually cheerful) lady with a bunch of kleenex in her hand, and an aura of grief that was palpable. Her sorrow made her look like a blue Star Wars hologram. Seems she had to take her cat to it’s last trip to the vet this morning. The cat was 22 years old, and had never been sick. The cat just gave her “the sign”, and she did what she had to do. I almost started crying too. Then the next person through the door was dear hubby, who had just had a tiff with a relative. That relative came in next, to let us know how upsetting the tiff had been. I was reeeeeeeally upset now.
Did I turn to chocolate? Strong drink? Did I run down the street tearing out large clumps of my hair and emitting strange middle-eastern ululating noises at high volume?
No.
I dug out my dishcloth cotton and my short needles and knit up a hand-towel. By the time I was ¾ finished, I felt much calmer. Of course, I have loads of work to catch up on now…

2005-05-20T20:03:00.000-05:00

Saturday, June 11, 2005!

Looooooong Weekend

2005-05-20T18:29:00.000-05:00

Yay, it's about time for some quality knitting time here in the OK corral. Plus some quality knitblogging time. Gotta get some pictures here, looks bland.

I have found I can knit at work, especially while waiting for customers or the slow computer, if the project is very small. I got myself some children's (short) needles, and do dishcloths. I like using knitted dishcloths--if they are round, not too big, and are tightly knit to stand up to the abuse. Perfect little work projects.

The State Of My Union

2005-05-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am, folks, intending to blog every day. Can't promise anything, though. We've been burned too many times before, haven't we?
One thing I can do, as a fledgling blogger, is to NOT read everyone else's blogs before I do my own. Wrong Thing To Do. All I need to do is compare my post to a NorgeThingy, or a Yarn Harlot, to feel completely inadequate and illiterate. ( Please note, those of you who may puzzle at such a very short links list, that I read way more than that--there are a bajillion knitting blogs out there, almost all of them cooler than mine. I just stopped making links, there were too many.)
Another thing I am going to do from now on is have stuff on my blog that I care about, a wee bit more than just knitting. (Stuff like climbing out of a deep hole of depression, stuff like deep-seated feelings of anxiety and inadequacy? NOPE. All I am capable of saying on these subjects is: find God and a good doctor; & meds.) Stuff like my adorable kids, long-suffering friends, housework challenges. Stuff like my adorable trucker husband. Stuff like my adorable work-place, which I Can't Talk About Right Now. ('Cuz stuff is "in the works" there that I can't talk about yet, but I can hardly wait, lemme tell ya!)
I live in a reeeeeally small town, but it's not the smallest town around these parts! Try 800 people, folks! We have NO traffic lights, unless you count the blinking red light out on the highway intersection. It's supposed to draw attention to the stop sign which was placed there to try and prevent cars from just wandering onto the highway into the path of big tractor-trailer trucks. It has been working--lately. We are also a big enough town that our level-crossings over the rail lines have those cool flashing red lights. But no barriers come swinging down--we're not big enough for that!
Having said all that, I just Love This Town. Been here for 25 years, and I love it more and more, totally inexplicable. My sister (in-law) couldn't wait to escape--27 years ago. Graduated, and gonzo-alonzo, she was Outta Here. She thinks I am completely nuts.
Well, some more ranting tomorrow.

Oh, my aching everything

2005-05-16T20:23:00.000-05:00

Wow. I am exhausted. My situation at work is horrible. Completely yucky. I won't bore you with the details.

Knitting- I have way too many WIP's. I am afraid to try and count them.

We will try to post again when we have some decent knitting news. I think my new pretty layout will help. I took a Blogger Templates template called "Sunflowers" and started dinking around with it, when suddenly, the colour looked like Belleek! (Irish porcelain). I love it, I find it soothing.

It's ALIVE!

2005-02-24T12:23:00.000-06:00

Howdy folks. I have crawled back up from the abyss. The relief around here is palpable.

Many things have happened over the past month, too many to go into right this minute. In case anyone was worried, Kathen will be back next week with a new look and attitude. (Well, not a totally new attitude. But I am trying to grow up. A little.)

Luv y'all!

2005-01-30T15:44:00.000-06:00

Penance.

Manic Stage

2005-01-28T10:20:00.000-06:00

I think I'm in the manic stage...just kidding. I don't think I'm a true manic/depressive. Is there such a thing as having a mild case? (My sister has the real thing.)

(I apologize to those who expect knitting content here. Just working out the brainspazms, I'll be back to normal soon.)

Things are getting better and better!
1. Unkymoods is back! Why do I love those little yellow caricatures so?
2. Had a Cadbury's Easter Creme Egg yesterday. Can you get them in the States? I hope so. Gooey, drippy mega-dose of sugar and chocolate. It is a trend up here, seems to me, that the best kind of new chocolate bar (candy bar) is a new flavour variety of an old one. White chocolate is popping up everywhere! Now if they could just make a white chocolate Easter Creme Egg...
3. My second dishcloth is not turning out to be a painfully tight penance. Soon I can start something real.
4. I surfed some other knitblogs, and saw on Curls&Purls NYC : Flylady!!! I had quite forgotten about her. Tried to sign up about 3 years ago, but I had an unworkable, unmemorable id name and a yahoo mail I couldn't remember and never checked, so... But this time will be different! Yahoo!! Yippee!

2005-01-27T09:13:00.000-06:00

*Sigh*

Need!

2005-01-26T01:06:00.000-06:00

Ooooh yeah, pms-y Kathen's gonna put this on her sidebar. Grumble grumble grumble.

Lookin' Up!

2005-01-25T17:37:00.000-06:00

This News Flash just in:

The unusual quiet noticed by the Mamma last night has been explained by a dejected teenaged girl this morning. Lately, this young girl has been observed washing the dishes while digging the sounds of Hot 101.1 FM, Brandon Manitoba's purveyor of all irritating noises of the Blingy, Chingy, Diddy, Rappy, Hippy-Hoppy ,and Poppy varieties.

But yesterday, all that changed. Apparently, at noon yesterday, Most Depressing Day, rappy-hippity-hoppy became: 101.1 The Farm!

Yes! It's true! The teenage girl, a.k.a. DD17, is hanging a lip, but apparently it's nothing like the severe reaction from the Phat Kid. She "hates the oldies", according to DD17, who was bombarded with 70's and 80's as an infant, toddler, child, youngster...by her cruel parents. Yes, the music of my youth is now OLDIES. ahem.

Older folks were spotted around Kathenville with faraway smiles today. We don't listen to country, but we also won't have to be listening to blingy rappy hippy hoppy anymore. Things are Lookin' Up!

Ha! Knew it!

2005-01-24T13:05:00.000-06:00

Ha! I knew there was a reason for today. I just heard on the radio that some Brits did a study, and Today, January 24, 2005, is the Most Depressing Day of the Year. Among their reasons was that Christmas is over, the bills have rolled in, nobody has any energy, and it's Monday.

Homestarrunner worked a little at home. Here at work, I think I'll go to Weeble and listen to the Chocolate song. Dancing Cadbury Easter Creme Eggs. Yeah.

Cwap.

2005-01-24T07:12:00.000-06:00

Whatta lousy week. I have been avoiding posting 'cause I have no knitting news. Whoopdie-do. Still no news. This post is pure therapy--for me. Stop reading now, I suck.

I have been knitting a round dishcloth in black or navy (I can't tell) Bernat Handicrafter Cotton on size 10 (2-1/2 mm?) needles as a sort of punishment for myself. If the work was any tighter, it would be impossible. It'll scrub really good.

I think I will try to download some Homestarrunner sounds in an attempt to cheer myself up. I can't wait to delete or close something and hear Homestar say, "Baleeted!!"

That would make me feel better. Maybe.

Round Straights

2005-01-16T13:48:00.000-06:00

Well folks, I split up my turtleneck onto straight back-and-forth knitting, and what a relief! I know it doesn't look like a straight needle, but thanks to my marvelous Boye Knitmaster kit (That's Denise needles for all you young'uns) I have very flexible straight needles. It only took one row for the work to feel relaxed and right again. Sigh.

ButtonBreak

2005-01-15T16:51:00.000-06:00

This is a great button for Stitchy McYarnpants, I hope it turns out ok.

Impressed

2005-01-14T11:01:00.000-06:00

Very impressed was I, by the neat rows of buttons and the clean lines of the Knitlet blog, and I decided that my blog looked cluttered, like my kitchen. Time to take my rudimentary HTML skills and try once more to get the sidebar in order.

If you are reading this, take a look to the right. You may or may not see neat rows of buttons there. I tried, but it ended up looking like a snowplow had piled them in a heap, which squished into the posts. That and Unkymoods has disappeared--how depressing. I hope it comes back, they're cute.

Somebody please tell me if I am "stealing bandwidth". I think all the buttons are now pictures posted to my blog, with links under them. How do you "Make" a button, anyone? I use good ol' Paint on my Windows '98, and send it to Blogger with HelloPicasa.

It works for me, but if anyone sees themselves on my button collection and doesn't like the button, let me know. (I know I want to replace Stitchy McYarnpants with one of her new spiffy ones.)

The Reason

2005-01-12T08:57:00.000-06:00

The Real Reason I haven't posted in the new year...

So this is the real reason I have not posted much in the new year: sheer and total embarrassment. This is the reason for the embarrassment: my complete lack of respect for a perfectly good, perfectly simple pattern.

The pattern is a Neckwarmer from an old (because I bought it, ancient is when my mom bought it,ha ha) Patons pattern book of goofy accessories. (When I say goofy, I mean Black and Neon Fairisle hats. Need I say more?)

Now this pattern is simple. Do a front, do a back, seam one shoulder, pick up some stitches around the neck, straight knit a big chunk of k2p2 rib for a turtleneck, and sew up one seam. What's so hard about that, you may ask?

Nothin'! There is nothing tough about this, but Kathen just hasta mess with a perfectly good pattern, because she has delusions of grandeur. ("Oh, I used to knit fairisle sweaters, I'm a big shot.")

HA! Ya know why I used to knit fairisle sweaters in the round? Because I used to HATE TO PURL. There. I've admitted it. (My middle name is Pearl, for fsake. Thanks, Baba. Cool knitter's name.)

It is only since I have taken up knitting this last time, that something in my peabrain-to-fingers-network snapped, and I discovered myself purling with wild, carefree abandon, just as if it was just a flipside to the coin, and not a torturous dark side.

So anyway, the old feeling of "must use circs at all costs" snuck in and took over, so I sewed up both shoulder seams and started to work in the round instead of working back and forth a la the pattern.

Whatta mistake! The shorter (16"?) circ was really too long for a turtleneck, the stitches were really too stretched out. So I tried to change to two circulars, because I remembered the website instructions--sort of. I went around and around, accidentally changed directions, went around 1-1/2 times, changed directions, ½ a round, changed directions, started back. STOPPED. What the heck have I done?!?

Well. I decided to relocate my two-circ instructions, or split the work back onto straight needles again, whatever came first by the time I had finished all that crazy un-knitting. One stitch at a time. Ribbet, ribbet, ribbet.

Now I am going around ve-e-e-ry slowly on two circs. It is not really that comfy. I am trying to decide whether splitting it up and straight-knitting is advisable. If I have not reached the "fold" point of the turtleneck, maybe I will.

All this happened because I was scared to follow my desire -- knitting a real sweater, one with pieces you sew together, a sweater that contains some purling.

We ain't afraid of no stinkin' purling. Anymore. I shouldn't have to keep telling myself that. By the time I have finished this stinkin' neckwarmer, I WILL BELIEVE.

-35!!!

2005-01-10T08:59:00.000-06:00

It is a bone-chillin', eyelid-freezin', nasty minus 35 degrees Celsius here on my little chunk of the Canadian Prairies.
How cold is that? Well, for anyone "Down South" who reads this:
We have electric heaters built into the engine blocks of our cars, so we can plug them in at night. It takes about an hour, according to DTH, to warm up the engine enough so that it will start in the morning.
We have a little thing called "Wind Chill" rating. If the wind is blowing at all, they report the temperature on the radio, not in actual degrees, but either how cold it feels out there, or how many minutes it takes exposed skin to freeze.
Today, it feels like minus 48. Exposed skin will freeze in less than a minute. Have a nice day!?!

Pressure

2005-01-09T22:31:00.000-06:00

Well. I have been avoiding this for the past week, this posting stuff. My last post turned out unexpectedly crackin'. I was pumped. Then Christmas happened. By the time I got back to the internet to post again, some nice people had posted some nice comments about my last post, and I got all weirded out: the pressure to do another ~~brilliant~~ mildly funny post had me paralyzed.

I did knit at Christmastime, though. This ad with the free hat pattern, from an old issue of Interweave Knits (Winter 2003), had been bugging me since I first saw it. I wanted to knit this hat, desperately, but I had no idea what Artful Yarns "Virtue" yarn might be like. I was holding out hope that I would somehow get to one of the "Fine Yarn Stores Everywhere" where this stuff was sold. Nope. A year later, and I still haven't gotten close to such a yarn store.

But in the past few months, reading all the inspirational blogs out there in knit-blog-land, a little something must have rubbed off. I finally read the pattern again, and noticed the nice little tension (gauge) recommendation. Duh! I knitted a swatch, and whaddayaknow, knitting with these five strands together came out to the recommended tension for three strands of Virtue. Three strands of rainbow Sox, and two strands of really old "Sayelle Knitting Worsted". (What does "sayelle" mean, anyway, acrylic? I don't recall seeing sayelle on any labels lately. Hmm.)

So I started knitting away, using my marvelous wiggly straight needles (Boye Knitmaster). The colour was exactly as I was hoping it would look. I found you really need to pay attention when you are knitting with five strands at once; it would only take one or two errant loops sticking out to wreck the look.
The only problem is the style is not one I am used to, it only covers the top halfs of my ears. Perhaps if I had less hair. Allow me to show you the hat, modelled by the phantom husband, whose hair is much shorter.

This is indeed what happened when I got DTH to model a hat so I could take a picture. I promised his face would not show, but you could imagine the pained expression he wore, even though the camera angle didn't show much face. DD17 took pity on his discomfort, and blacked out the evidence using PhotoImpression 4. The Yarn Harlot was right when she said (Oct27/04) that husbands made the most reluctant models.

The News Today

2004-12-20T11:14:00.000-06:00

Good Day. This is your Noon Newsbreak.
There has been a disturbing lack of knitting going on for the past week. There have been no sightings of new hats or scarves lately. When asked about this lack of production, Kathen stated, "I'm not allowed to talk about that scarf! It was a piece commissioned by the DD17, and I said I would do two of them, but I know I can't get the second one done on time. I'm upset, and I'd rather not talk about it right now."
The house, which had suffered such neglect for the past 8 months or so, has been attacked by the four children who live here. The eldest child, DTH, decided to put into effect a housecleaning timetable, of sorts, which would culminate with the Christmas tree being put up before December 23, and also with DTH and Kathen spending the wee hours of Christmas morning sleeping instead of wrapping. When asked to comment, Kathen said, "Phffpbpbfttt!!!".
In other news, DTH stated, and I paraphrase here, "That Yarn Harlot is wasting her time on that blog. She aughta become the new Erma Bombeck." To which Kathen replied, "Oh, I know just the book you can get me for my birthday!..."
A Travel Advisory has been issued for anyone considering coming over to Chez Kathen. It will be another day before the Hallways and Bathroom are passable. There is a treacherous buildup of DS14's crud in boxes lining one hallway, and piles of laundry in the other. The bathroom is simply gucky, and Kathen quoted (approximately) the child of the Yarn Harlot, stating, "Oh yeah, that job looks yucky gross, Mom better do it!".
A Severe Sound Advisory has also been issued for the area surrounding DD17. It was announced last week that Kalan Porter is performing in our nearest little city in March, and tickets were going to be going on sale this week. DD17 grabbed Kathen by the lapels, and in a frightening, moist, breathy voice which sounded like a cross between Arwen and Gollum hyperventilating, said, "PleasepleasepleasepleaseMommy get me those tickets, pleeeeeeeeeeease?"
Tickets go on sale today. Expect a sound eminating from DD17 something like this: "SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
And now for something completely different: The Weather. All bets are off on any highway travelling for relatives of Kathen. Apparently El Nino has come, and she (he? it?) is psycho. Our weather, usually a comfortable -15 to -20 degrees celcius at this time of the year, is vacillating between +5 and rain, and -27 or -30 and blowing snow. So the transitions between the extremes can involve: freezing rain, driving ice pellets, big snowbanks, slush, glare ice, black ice, dripping roofs, pea-soup fog, big fluffy flakes of snow, ....you get the picture. Even people who like winter hate this weather.
Stay tuned for more Kathen news as Christmas stalks her every waking moment and threatens, along with the weather, to drive her crazy. At least DTH is at home on Recouperation Leave from work, so he can share in the madness. Kathen has vowed to post often enough that she doesn't forget how to create links (AGAIN!).

Busy Bee

2004-12-10T09:39:00.000-06:00

Whoa, what a week. Haven't gotten near the computer, since between DD17, DS14, and DTH (home ~~sick~~ sore as heck) I haven't gotten near the computer. I wish I could say I filled up the time with knitting but...no.
This is the busiest time of the year for my retail business, like a lot of other ones, too. So I won't likely get any more knitting/blogging done 'til the new year.
Ooh, just had a brainwave, during the holidays, I'll teach DD17 and Phatty to knit! Wouldn't that be a hoot??? Hee hee. (And DS14, if'n he wants to!)

A new portrait

2004-12-05T11:21:00.000-06:00

My new portrait. Looks a little more like me than I expected it to! To get a replica (simulated? real-looking? aftermarket? jobber?) Stor Trooper or avatar Portrait of your very own, click here.

Red Hat - Done!

2004-12-02T09:23:00.000-06:00

Two views of the Red Hat. It will be for my Pop (biological). A nice, comfy squishy hat that is big enough for his large, round head. Hee hee!

Red Hat

2004-11-29T21:33:00.000-06:00

The beginnings of a manly hat. Really. (It is actually a rich deep red, not coral or tomato. Bad pic. ) My Mom invented this hat recipe; Dad turns the cuff twice before donning the hat. It's really warm that way. I just have to figure out a way of decreasing the k1p1 rib nicely. Anyone have any advice? I'd like a guideline, but of course as soon as you want a hat pattern for reference, all the patterns you've been tripping over at every turn magically disappear.

Rip it, rip it...

2004-11-29T21:05:00.000-06:00

Whenever I get tired of knitting, I rip up some more Red Heart JewelTones and wind it up. This was supposed to become some sort of sweater-dress thing for DD17 back when she was DD8. Needless to say, it won't be now. Maybe some sort of hoodie?

Beautiful Knitmaster set!

2004-11-25T14:15:00.000-06:00

Thank goodness I found my "Boye Knitmaster" needle set (old version of the Denise Set). I have never (touches wood) had them come unscrewed while I was knitting. I have always been really afraid of stripping those tiny plastic threads, but so far it hasn’t happened either (touches wood again).
I say thank goodness, ‘cause the border-hopping DTH is coming home for a couple of days! (It seems he doesn’t need to run south, because the ~~Excited~~ United States is in the throes of a long holiday weekend! Happy Thanksgiving to all my American relatives and friends!) Now I can hide my work from him on a spare piece of cable from the set. I wouldn’t want to give away any "Men in Hats" secrets.
Oh-oh...American Thanksgiving means it’s time to clean up the house for Christmas. Oh pooh.

New Homepage

2004-11-24T23:12:00.000-06:00

I think I might have found a new homepage, folks, entirely by accident. It's called "How Did You Find That?" 'cause the guy always has people asking him that. It's filled with really neat/weird/useful stuff. Click on this post title or on my sidebar link.
Had to get rid of the blog buttons, mostly, because they made the sidebar a mile long.
Back to knitting tomorrow.

2004-11-23T15:35:00.000-06:00

Relax, they're all here!

Rapture!

2004-11-21T22:35:00.000-06:00

It’s a banner day for Kathen! It’s Grey Cup Sunday. (Grey Cup: Canadian Pro Football's Holy Grail, a game played mid-to-late November, in Canada, often out-doors [!]). I was feeling like maybe, just maybe, if I searched just one more time, I might be able to find some part of the missing stash and needles, and WIP. So down to the ~~Catacombs~~ Basement I padded.

This was very brave on my part. We have over 200 boxes in the basement, the clutter and junk of 21 years of marriage, years when Family Vacation Trips Elsewhere seemed more important than cleaning and organization of said basement. Throw/give away perfectly good yard-sale quality merchandise? Nah, just box it up and put it in the basement for temporary storage, just until vacation time when we’ll have that yard sale. Can you say “Never Ending Cycle”?

Anyway, bravely I padded down to the ~~Catacombs~~ Basement, thinking that if I just poked around a little, I could at least find some part of my Mom’s stash, which I inherited. Right quickly (considering) I found Mom’s Magazines. The handful I pulled out of the box ranged from 1955 to 1969. Whoa! Now I was excited. After 10 minutes of unstacking and restacking boxes, I finally found the stash—2 huge boxes. It was mostly Eaton’s and Hudson’s Bay knitting worsted, plus the missing Mary Maxim balls to finish my oldest WIP, ten balls of Patons Diana (once intended for a “broomstick” knit sweater) and two balls each of about fifteen other strange yarns.

This was enough to have me chortling and cackling on the way up the stairs with the first box of yarn, but what happened next was enough to convince me that my God has smiled down on my strange knitting career.

As I passed by a heap of old hockey equipment crowding the aisle, I glanced down into a box of elbow pads and saw a rolled-up plastic bag. For absolutely no good reason and without a thought in my head (like, “It’s probably a bag of pucks”), I put down the stash box and picked up the bag.
It contained my Tupperware Tackle-box of Knitting! All the stitch markers and yarn bobbins and scissors and et cetera. Woo hoo! Then just as I bent down to pick up the box, I spy with my little eye the Knitting Caddy, containing needles and the Lost WIP. I had to put the box of yarn back, but I should remember where they are when I need them. I hope.

Well, I was told by DTH that my knitting got cleaned out of the front room when we were preparing for Grey Cup Party 2001. ~~Expletive~~ It…disturbs
me that it ended up in the hockey equipment. Oh well.

The official words today are, “Oh frabjous day, Calloo, Callay!” (sic).

Hope to have some pictures tomorrow. Oh yeah, Toronto won.

Thief!

2004-11-19T11:30:00.000-06:00

Oh yeah, I stole Pink Pooling Poncho and wore it to work today. Time will tell if DD17 stomps downtown to rip it off me (if you do, honey, bring me my grey sno-fleece jacket, ok?) or says thank god, she really didn't like it anyhow. As far as I know, these are the only 2 possibilities.

Spaghetti & Parent-Teacher Day

2004-11-19T11:05:00.000-06:00

Frustration reigns supreme here for Kathen. First, I bought a big bag of factory-ends yarn--and I have no idea what it is. I guess it's five or six w.p.i., and it looks like well-cooked spaghetti. So now I have to figure out--WHAT IS IT? Sorry for shouting, but ...How thick is Berocco Suede? What weight of yarn do I need for a sweater...No yardage, no gauge, nothing given on the package except 1kg. (2.2lbs) of unknown fibre.

When I get home, I'll put up a picture of this goofiness.

Yay! It's parent teacher day! DD17 states,"Parents don't come anymore to this, it's just between me and the teacher now, and I already talked to him." Gee, I wish you were that mature and fiercely independent in everything else, kiddo! And DS14--I asked him at least six times if there was a specific time given for him now that he was in high-school. Four times he grunted, and the two times he must have whispered (he denies he whispered), "Eleven-thirty", I didn't hear him. So now I won't be able to make the scene.

Thank you for letting me vent.

Ring, Ring!

2004-11-18T07:53:00.000-06:00

Ooh, I am almost finished with my blog format. I think. I have been accepted into the Acrylics Anonymous Ring.
I think it's fitting, since I've lived in this town for 20+years, and only recently noticed that there is no wool whatsoever in the LYS. Fluffy, fuzzy, lumpy, bouclé, and at least 6 different colourways (a new word for me, have I used it correctly?) of camouflage yarn (I can hardly wait to see how that stuff pools, puddles, and zig-zags) but no wool.
Natural Fibre? Handicrafter Cotton, and huge 2kg bags of factory-end, 100% unknown fibre yarn. Looks like cooked spagetti.
Ya know what? The more I prattle on and on about this, the more I think--I just don't care! So what. I don't imagine myself using muted, heathery shades of anything anyway. I might have to drive for an hour and a half to Brandon (the small city) to go to Zellers, where they carry Red Heart, Bernat, and some Lions Brand. But--I doubt it.
I see a blue camouflage hoodie in my future. Hee hee!

It's done!

2004-11-13T23:18:00.000-06:00

It's done, wahoo! The pink poncho is finished, and I decided it would look way better on DD17 than me. And it does. I think I should knit her a matching hat now. Didn't I see a pattern on another blog somewhere? WAIT! Was it a Harlot pattern?! Hey, it would be a matching Harlot set. I gotta go search now. And I gotta find a pattern for DS14, a hat or maybe a sweater. He needs the knitting love too, right?

At Loose Ends

2004-11-12T15:26:00.000-06:00

What to do, what to do? All the beautiful Patons Cha-Cha...gone. That magnificent, lap-warming, sneeze inducing, pile of fuzzy poncho goodness...whisked away to the land of DD17, never to be seen again. So what next, then, to warm my knitting heart? Some Koigu?

Some Alpaca?
.
.
.
Some Rowan?
.
.
.
Nah! Some SUPER YARN!

My Mom gave me a couple balls of this stuff, I think it was a special buy at the local dry goods emporium a very long time ago. It's great for washable afghans and kid's stuff, and she's made a few of them with it. So I thought, what the hey, that should be an easy mindless knit to repair my frazzled nerves after Cha-Cha overdose.

The problem is, this stuff is so acrylic, when you're knitting you can hear fine little squeaking noises, like little balloons rubbing together!

Finished Object!

2004-11-11T17:29:00.000-06:00

Here it is! DD17 with the luscious Fiesta Poncho. She especially likes the swoops of colour (is that called pooling? or puddling?) I think some neckline stabilization is required, but we will see. I don't think she wants to give it back to me so I could do it!

Yay! Poncho!

2004-11-10T23:15:00.000-06:00

Lap fulla yarn! Needles almost off, in this shot just 30 stitches left.

*Bonehead Move #1

2004-11-10T08:53:00.000-06:00

Speaking of Bonehead moves (as Fluffa! was, just the other day) I finished Fiesta the Poncho. No. What I did was knit until all the yarn was finished. Now I have to unknit a round so I have yarn to bind off with. I think I better check on the pattern while I'm at it.
*Actually, this is probably bonehead knitting move number 187 for this year alone, but this is the first one (at last count) to get star billing on my Fiesta blog entries. We will no longer discuss Bozo. Thank you.

2004-11-09T20:34:00.000-06:00

Olé!

Fiesta!

2004-11-09T20:33:00.000-06:00

Fiesta! We got a new "cheap but filling" Polaroid Digital Camera that is perfect for my purposes--and it only cost 99.00 at Zellers! Woo-hoo! 2.0 Megapixel with flash! Our old Polaroid digital camera has no flash, and only low resolution.
Boo hoo! DTH wants to take the new camera on the road with him. Oh well.

Progress

2004-11-08T13:49:00.000-06:00

Well, I have knitted almost 5 balls of cha-cha and 1-1/2 balls of sox into Fiesta the Poncho, and DD17 couldn't stand it any longer, she grabbed it and tried it on--upside down! All I could do was hold the needles tightly. She wouldn't have been able to do it if I had followed the pattern, but I knit back and forth for the first few inches and then joined, so the neckline gapes and will need a cute little seam in the back. But anyhoo, she says she is very impressed and I should work hard on it. She is not a little child, like Harlot's model (favourite thing #3) or Mason-Dixon Kay's model. She is Tall, my DD17. (whine, complain.)

Bleah

2004-11-06T13:54:00.000-06:00

It's housework day. Bleah. I got a day off and I gotta fill it with boring, mundane, repetitive tasks that contribute nothing to the flowering of the human spirit.

On the other hand, disease and pest control is a good thing.

Whew!

2004-11-04T19:05:00.000-06:00

Yay! DS14 is feeling better. DTH (Dear Trucker Hubby) should be home tonight. Maybe that's why I have somehow posted this many times today. Maybe I won't post tomorrow. (Heh heh heh.)

My next project may be to swatch multi-strands of rainbow Sock yarn . Got 3 balls, I hope that will make a hat and mitts. Or...maybe I should use my reeely skinny needles and ...oh, I dunno.

Remorse.

2004-11-04T08:35:00.000-06:00

Now I feel like a BIG, FAT WORM. My kid still sick, and I am threatening to send him to school anyway. Can I cry now?

Decisions...

2004-11-04T06:49:00.000-06:00

Decisions, decisions.

Do I string all gazillion stitches onto spare wool so DD17 can try on FIesta and ease her doubts about it's poncho shape? Or not?

Do I send DS14 to school despite his feeling lousy? I am thinking, "You can leave again if you throw up!!". Bad Mother. Bad. Don't you trust your son??! Well, yes I do; but there is also such a thing as wallowing in your misery until it's a self-fulfilling-prophecy-type-deal. (Syntax-Grammar ticket. Guilty. I'll pay.)

New Name, Etc.

2004-11-03T00:30:00.000-06:00

Well. I can't believe I am about to do and say this stuff, but: I am changing the name of Bozo the Poncho. I have had a huge change of heart about it the past couple of days. It is growing on me: the cheerful mix of two wildly different but complementary variegated colours; the uncanny way the sock yarn stands out on the needle and keeps the fuzzy yarn in place, then quietly fades into the background of the fabric, popping out here and there only when a teeny touch of acid green or caribbean aqua is required; the furry yet liquidly draping fabric. It has also become fun to knit. I knew this when I reached for it instead of the Scary Pink poncho for my recreational, after-dinner knit.

So for all these reasons, I present to you: Fiesta the Poncho! (Sorry, you'll have to scroll down if you want to see it. Too tired to fight with CheapCam.) Olé!

Now for the et cetera part. If you want to experience the joy of the Old Spice commercial in your own life (you know, the one where the babe has the scent-induced "falling-in-love" flashback), then head over here. (Take Kleenex with you, you'll need it!) I had to go and read this while DTH (Dear Trucker Hubby) was in North Carolina. Sniff.

Way past bedtime here. Do the States have the Daylight-Saving-Time switch, too? I swear, the kids and I have a wicked little Timeswitch-Jetlag/Hallowe'en Hangover. I don't remember the timeswitch EVER being on Hallowe'en before (probably only because my memory is crap). I think the Trick-or-Treaters pooped out early, because it felt later. Now, why can't I also wake up earlier, because of the switch?!

My friend Elaine hangs a sign outside her store. It's only fiftysomething sleeps until Christmas. Bah Humbug.

Boo!

2004-10-31T19:37:00.000-06:00

This is a picture of my Hallowe'en wax warmer. The licorice wax is wasted on my back deck, but it looks so cute! Super-cheap digicam has a bit of life in it yet.
I used to hate waiting for the goblins to call. Couldn't get anything accomplished with one ear on the back door. But this year, oh boy! I am sitting at the back door, keeping my eye on all 19 of the festive candle-lanterns, sipping café latté from my "Happy Hallowe'en!" mug, wearing one of my dish-cotton hats, and knitting my acrylic pink poncho while cackling at nothing in particular. It just doesn't get any ~~better~~ scarier than this.

Holding Shape

2004-10-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

I held up Bozo (olé!) while my needles were at the front, and it was poncho shaped. You could actually see the line up the front, and the diagonal stripiness and the triangular shape. Woo-hoo!

Ole!

2004-10-27T23:08:00.000-05:00

See those pictures? I finally read the labels of the yarn, and discovered that my sock yarn and eyelash yarn were meant to be together. "Hot Tamale" and "Salsa" ! Hee hee. (Um...what is a tamale, anyway? Anyone really know? I took a poll of my family, and the result was 2 thought it was some kind of Mexican food. One thought it was a kind of pepper. )

whoa, this post sucks. Time for some much needed sleep.