As financial considerations have made it necessary for me to drop from the Rockin' Sock Club as well as to cancel any yarn I've had on back order, I have created my own sock club for this year:
Knit From Your Stash Sock Club
Anyone can join in! All you do is create your own "sock kits" from your stash of yarn and patterns. Every two months you pull out a kit and start in on a new pair of socks (presuming you have the other stuff finished). Voila! Six pairs of cool socks knitted by the end of the year!
Yes, I really wish I could be part of the RSC this year because you get cool yarn that's only for the sock club members, but that's just not going to happen this time.
I'm setting up a separate blog for the KFYS Club. If you want to be a member of it, let me know and I'll figure out how to add you in. (N.B., if you have an "old" Blogspot account you won't be able to participate. However, it's free to create a Blogspot account, so it doesn't cost you anything if you want to join in.)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
It never rains, but it tsunamis. . .
Friday, 23 February. We learn that the mortgage we renegotiated last November does NOT include setting aside funds for the escrow account or homeowner's insurance. We have to come up with 3 months back-payment on the homeowner's insurance (or lose it) that day. We have to come up with half of the property taxes by the end of March.
Monday, 26 February. We learn that we will be paying a lot in taxes for last year. "A lot" meaning we could probably buy a whole new furnace unit again.
Tuesday 27 February. We learn that CompUSA is closing in a couple of months, so Ed will be losing his job there. I also learn (although it's a small thing by comparison) that I'll most likely be having a hysterectomy sometime in the next 12 months.
We're on the phone with the financial advisor and the tax guy, so the money stuff will work out. Also, I've got my momma praying rosaries so fervently that I'll bet God thinks she's standin' right next to Him and shoutin' in his ears. However, if I appear to be wavering as I walk around today, it's because I'm rather shot through with holes at the moment.
Monday, 26 February. We learn that we will be paying a lot in taxes for last year. "A lot" meaning we could probably buy a whole new furnace unit again.
Tuesday 27 February. We learn that CompUSA is closing in a couple of months, so Ed will be losing his job there. I also learn (although it's a small thing by comparison) that I'll most likely be having a hysterectomy sometime in the next 12 months.
We're on the phone with the financial advisor and the tax guy, so the money stuff will work out. Also, I've got my momma praying rosaries so fervently that I'll bet God thinks she's standin' right next to Him and shoutin' in his ears. However, if I appear to be wavering as I walk around today, it's because I'm rather shot through with holes at the moment.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Notice to Rockin' Sock Club Friends
Due to some financial surprises (i.e., we really got walloped on paying income tax this year), I've had to withdraw from the Rockin' Sock Club for this year. So, I will lose my privileges to the Rockin' Sock Club site, which means I won't be able to post there or connect as easily with all of you.
I have web sites / blog addresses for some of you, so I hope you'll be able to post your progress and share your successes there. Do stop back and keep in touch if you can. This will be the Year of Knitting from Stash for me, but I'm hoping to be able to be back for the RSC next year!
Hugs and happy knitting to all of you!
I have web sites / blog addresses for some of you, so I hope you'll be able to post your progress and share your successes there. Do stop back and keep in touch if you can. This will be the Year of Knitting from Stash for me, but I'm hoping to be able to be back for the RSC next year!
Hugs and happy knitting to all of you!
Monday, February 26, 2007
Ed's Socks Started
I finished the Henpecked socks later in the afternoon, so I got a good start on the socks of my DH.
Snow at Our House
The snow was thick, but we were fortunate not to have ice underneath it. Clearing it was relatively easy.
A look up our street.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
A Few Updates. . .
1. Meeting lots of fun people through the Blue Moon Rockin' Sock Club! I'm going to have to budget to participate in next year's club, but it will totally be worth it! I mean, I haven't even started (the first package is due this week) and I'm in love with it!
2. "Henpecked" socks coming along well. I've turned the heel on the second sock and I've got 4 rows done on the gusset. I'm hoping to get that one cranked out by the end of the Academy Awards program tonight.
3. Order from the aforementioned (and linked) Blue Moon arrived yesterday. I have the "In the Navy" skein wound and ready to start when the "Henpecked" socks are done. I haven't wound the "Watermelon Tourmaline" yet -- I'm having too much fun just looking at it.
4. The DK weight "Golden Apricot" arrived in yesterday's mail. At first I thought it was a tiny skein, but that was just because they'd sucked all of the air out of the package prior to mailing. It wound into a nice "cake" of yarn. I'll have to put it aside for later as I anticipate being inundated by StR sock knitting.
5. I put a few more rows onto the "Downpour" scarf, but I've set it aside in favor of doing some other things.
6. Sadly, I've only just started on the second half of the front of the sweater for Trish. I have the held stitches transferred to a needle and the first row has been knit.
7. We have about 7" of snow on our deck, all of it heavy and fluffy. We are fortunate in that we didn't have ice underneath it all as our friends in other states had to contend with.
2. "Henpecked" socks coming along well. I've turned the heel on the second sock and I've got 4 rows done on the gusset. I'm hoping to get that one cranked out by the end of the Academy Awards program tonight.
3. Order from the aforementioned (and linked) Blue Moon arrived yesterday. I have the "In the Navy" skein wound and ready to start when the "Henpecked" socks are done. I haven't wound the "Watermelon Tourmaline" yet -- I'm having too much fun just looking at it.
4. The DK weight "Golden Apricot" arrived in yesterday's mail. At first I thought it was a tiny skein, but that was just because they'd sucked all of the air out of the package prior to mailing. It wound into a nice "cake" of yarn. I'll have to put it aside for later as I anticipate being inundated by StR sock knitting.
5. I put a few more rows onto the "Downpour" scarf, but I've set it aside in favor of doing some other things.
6. Sadly, I've only just started on the second half of the front of the sweater for Trish. I have the held stitches transferred to a needle and the first row has been knit.
7. We have about 7" of snow on our deck, all of it heavy and fluffy. We are fortunate in that we didn't have ice underneath it all as our friends in other states had to contend with.
Friday, February 23, 2007
MPG Estimates Change
We didn't do to badly with this. You can check out your vehicle's estimated Miles Per Gallon a this site.
The Aunt Jenny Award
Background
Aunt Jenny is one of my dad's sisters. She is a very kind, sweet person in so many ways. In fact, she and my mom were friends before my mom met my dad. Aunt Jenny was mom's matron of honor back in 1945. She's a powerful force, still alive (in her early 90s) and only a few years ago could still be found doing work around her home (such as scraping the paint off the garage in preparation for painting it).
But every now and then she will open her mouth and say the rudest, most tactless things!
Example 1:
It's June 1996. We're all gathering together on the eve of my youngest sister's wedding. My beautiful sister Mary — who even today in her 50s could wear a bikini and still get wolf whistles; who looks great even if she's dirty and rumpled from cleaning the garage; who is fun to be around because she has such a pleasant attitude — my beautiful sister Mary opened the front door to welcome Aunt Jenny and was greeted by this aunt with, "Oh, Mary! You always used to look so pretty and dress so nice!" Believe me, Aunt Jenny had a smile on her face when she said this. I'm sure she meant something like, "Don't you look wonderful, just as I always remember!" but it certainly didn't come out that way.
Example 2:
It's August 1997. We're at my nephew David's wedding. Aunt Jenny (his great-aunt) has come for the wedding and she's sitting with all of us in the front part of the church prior to the ceremony starting. She's looking around at the bridesmaids, the bride's mother, and the bride herself. Most people would remark on how happy everyone seemed to be and how lovely everyone looked, etc. Aunt Jenny observed, "I've never seen so many fat people at a wedding in all my life!"
So, every now and then, someone in our family wins the "Aunt Jenny Award." Last night the (un)lucky recipient was my mother-in-law, Anne. We (me, my husband, and Anne) were in the car and going to dinner (for Anne's 85th birthday). Anne was in the back seat; Ed and I were in front; I was driving. I mention our relative positions because you have to understand that there was no way she could have presumed that her son was NOT in the vehicle with us. Nonetheless, she began talking as though he wasn't there. She said, "Remember when he was exercising a lot? It was when he went through all that trouble. He looked so good. I was so proud of him. Well, that didn't last!"
I looked over at my husband and we shared a smirk. My retort was, "I don't know what you mean — I think he's magnificent!"
You have to understand: My MIL will go on about nearly anything and it won't make a lot of sense. For example, she saw a sign for the Sylvan Learning Center and that triggered her telling us a story of a nun who didn't have a proper teaching degree who was hired to tutor a young woman with a learning disability. This was about 60 years ago. My MIL was going on and on about how private tutoring doesn't help because the student becomes dependent upon the tutor and will regress once the tutor is gone. She has no basis for that opinion other than this one instance, so of course she back-pedaled when I said I knew people who'd brought their daughter to one of these centers and their daughter learned many skills that helped her after she was done with the program.
Well, if she wants to keep up the various and sundry dramas of her life, I think she deserves an award. :)
Aunt Jenny is one of my dad's sisters. She is a very kind, sweet person in so many ways. In fact, she and my mom were friends before my mom met my dad. Aunt Jenny was mom's matron of honor back in 1945. She's a powerful force, still alive (in her early 90s) and only a few years ago could still be found doing work around her home (such as scraping the paint off the garage in preparation for painting it).
But every now and then she will open her mouth and say the rudest, most tactless things!
Example 1:
It's June 1996. We're all gathering together on the eve of my youngest sister's wedding. My beautiful sister Mary — who even today in her 50s could wear a bikini and still get wolf whistles; who looks great even if she's dirty and rumpled from cleaning the garage; who is fun to be around because she has such a pleasant attitude — my beautiful sister Mary opened the front door to welcome Aunt Jenny and was greeted by this aunt with, "Oh, Mary! You always used to look so pretty and dress so nice!" Believe me, Aunt Jenny had a smile on her face when she said this. I'm sure she meant something like, "Don't you look wonderful, just as I always remember!" but it certainly didn't come out that way.
Example 2:
It's August 1997. We're at my nephew David's wedding. Aunt Jenny (his great-aunt) has come for the wedding and she's sitting with all of us in the front part of the church prior to the ceremony starting. She's looking around at the bridesmaids, the bride's mother, and the bride herself. Most people would remark on how happy everyone seemed to be and how lovely everyone looked, etc. Aunt Jenny observed, "I've never seen so many fat people at a wedding in all my life!"
So, every now and then, someone in our family wins the "Aunt Jenny Award." Last night the (un)lucky recipient was my mother-in-law, Anne. We (me, my husband, and Anne) were in the car and going to dinner (for Anne's 85th birthday). Anne was in the back seat; Ed and I were in front; I was driving. I mention our relative positions because you have to understand that there was no way she could have presumed that her son was NOT in the vehicle with us. Nonetheless, she began talking as though he wasn't there. She said, "Remember when he was exercising a lot? It was when he went through all that trouble. He looked so good. I was so proud of him. Well, that didn't last!"
I looked over at my husband and we shared a smirk. My retort was, "I don't know what you mean — I think he's magnificent!"
You have to understand: My MIL will go on about nearly anything and it won't make a lot of sense. For example, she saw a sign for the Sylvan Learning Center and that triggered her telling us a story of a nun who didn't have a proper teaching degree who was hired to tutor a young woman with a learning disability. This was about 60 years ago. My MIL was going on and on about how private tutoring doesn't help because the student becomes dependent upon the tutor and will regress once the tutor is gone. She has no basis for that opinion other than this one instance, so of course she back-pedaled when I said I knew people who'd brought their daughter to one of these centers and their daughter learned many skills that helped her after she was done with the program.
Well, if she wants to keep up the various and sundry dramas of her life, I think she deserves an award. :)
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Gee, I forgot to mention . . .
These two skeins are on their way from Blue Moon. Left is "In the Navy;" Right is "Watermelon Tourmaline."
Why I Shouldn't Have Free Time
OK, I've been roaming the Internet in search of yarn. I found these from links on the Knitty site advertiser's page. These are from Ewe Need Yarn:
This is Great Adirondack "Caribou" in the Trillium colorway.
This is Great Adirondack "Caribou" in the Trillium colorway.
Golden Apricot Yarn
Um, did I mention this lovely DK weight yarn in Golden Apricot? It's from Handpainted Yarn.
Of course, none of this is my fault. I blame it on a society that constantly enables my knitting habit. Really. It's true.
Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Real Beauty
OK, here's the brain-bleach to help cleanse us of yesterday's image. This is a publicity photo from Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty. This is what I want to be: Normal-Beautiful.
One step at a time, I'll get there.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
OK, Now I've Done It
I've made a commitment. I've put my weight loss ticker on my blog. It's real.
Geez, I hate this! But, I saw a show on TLC this weekend about four morbidly obese people. (Although, not the people in the photo -- that I found on the web and added my face to as a warning. Well, maybe I look a little like the one on the far right.) OMG!!! I don't want to be like this!
So, here we go again. I'm keeping track at My Calorie Counter. It's a nice site, and free! Better than the Weight Watchers one I'd tried earlier.
Calories In < Calories Out = Smaller Judith
Give me strength!
Monday, February 19, 2007
Project Updates
With apologies to those of you on dial-up, this is a photo-heavy day of postings. First a quilt project and then all of the knitting. You will not be surprised to hear that my house is a pig sty, but it's the only way I can concentrate on all of the projects (which are essential to my sanity).
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