My favorite time of year!

That's right... its Shark Week again!

And my cable was out yesterday until almost midnight so I missed a couple new episodes...grr. Thank goodness for dvr technology, at least I can tape the reruns this week!

Ahh, reminds me of one of my favorite scenes in Jaws... Ellen and Chief Brody are sitting in the family room having a drink while he's flipping through the shark book (WHICH by the way is one of my favorite books ever, I think I borrowed it from the library 60 times between the ages of 8 and 18). Ellen wants to 'get drunk and fool around', the dog's already doing that himself on the couch, Sean's on the dock "watching Michael", and Michael's sitting in his new birthday present.

"Michael, did you hear your father? Out of the water now. NOW!"

If only she'd said that before Alex Kintner had begun to prune...

oooh! I'm so lucky!

So my car wouldn't start today after work because the genius I am left the lights on all day and drained the battery! At least I'm prepared enough with jumper cables since this is probably the hundreth time this has happened to me. But imagine my surprise when I got home (an hour later than normal!) and found my Hogwards Sock Kit Swap package waiting for me!

Could I get any better package?! I don't think so!!! Not only did I get the awesome yarn a little bit ago in Ravenclaw 3rd year stripes, but I got SO MANY MORE GOODIES!!

I got all kinds of needles-- a set of sock needles, two sets of bamboo straight needles, and cable needles (thank god! my cable needle had disappeared into either my mom's or sister's stash some time ago, and I'd not gotten a replacement yet, so its perfect!). I also got an excellent recipe card with some good texan recipes on it-- after all, my partner was from the Lone Star State! I got a huge bag of french vanilla coffee--which is very appropriate since it is my favorite drink. Two skeins of Moonlight Mohair to knit up with my new needles! Then the Hogwarts stuff--so much! Wizard trading cards (Wizzo, when does your card come out??), tons of yummy candies like Bertie Bots, an excellent bookmark which is also perfect because I'm expecting book #7 to arrive Saturday!! And the neatest stationary--Harry Potter themed of course! There's just too much to mention, and I love every bit of it!

Thanks, Sonia! What a great package!

New Foot Model

Its a bit late, but I just finished my first Friday Harbor sock (Knitting on the Road) and wanted to see how it looked. My dog was passed out next to me and man! He's tired. He didn't even wake up when I slipped the sock on his leg. I think his feet must be cold because he let out a little sigh of content (or maybe sigh of disgust) after it was on. The picture doesn't show the pattern at all, but man it made me laugh!

Ravenclaw has the best colors!

The sock yarn from my HSKS partner has arrived!!! Thank you so much Sonia! She ran into a bit of doggy trouble as her puppys destroyed the yarn she had originally purchased (naughty puppies!) but she was kind enough to have it sent to me directly from dharmafeys cosmic fibers. Thanks again! I love the yarn!

Sushi, Kool-Aid and Socks Socks Socks!

Holy cow, it's already Sunday! What a weekend! I didn't get too much done other than house stuff, but I did get to eat some yummy yummy sushi with Brooke which included this crazy beast! So delicious, and shame on me I can't remember what the hell this was called. All I know is that it had the spiciest spicy mayo EVER.

I also finished another pair of jaywalkers last week--this pair was knit with Austermann STEP sock yarn which I love! It has jojoba oil in the fiber-a nice treat for the feet. Lucky me, Stephanie bought this yarn for me on our pass through Howell, Michigan. Thanks again, Steph!

They feel great on my feet (of course I had to wear them practically immediately after finishing them!)

I'm really loving knitting socks--which is probably good because my sock stash is multiplying like a wet gremlin.

I also dyed some sock yarn yesterday! I used the Kool-Aid method again, this time I used lemon-lime, pink lemonade, and berry blue. The house smelled dee-lish! I hope to start knitting with this yarn this week to see how I did measuring out my stripes. My goal was to have a thin pink stripe, thick green, thin blue, thick green--we'll see how I actually did this week.

Since I finished the my jojoba jaywalkers last week, I've knit and frogged another sock literally twenty times. What the heck! I just couldn't find the right pattern that complimented the yarn. I kept getting blobs of color rather than anything like a stipe--which drove me nuts! I finished about 30 rows of the sock pattern that I finally decided to go with, but then realized that unless my sister's feet have been bound since age 2 like an ancient chinese girl, there was no way these would fit her. So I (once again) frogged the sock and started it up again on size 3s. Stephanie gave me this yarn because she had 2 skeins of it--Socks that Rock's Punk Pink. We decided that I'll knit her a pair and she'll knit me a pair in the same yarn. So this is what I have on the needles now. I should be starting the heel tonight (hopefully) and get this pair finished this week.

And thats about it for now! I am listening to Shannon and Steph's newest podcast--probably the only knitting podcast that has ever said "Roto-Rooter" thirty times.

New goodies!

So I'm a bit lazy right now to run down a snap a few pictures (although I could use Stephanie's excuse of I "lost" my sync cord, but why bother) but I got some excellent stuff this weekend from my mom and sister's adventure up north to the shop the Fold.
They got me a skein of some super excellent Trekking yarn in what other color but brown, my favorite! I can't decide what pattern to make this sock pair up with yet, but I am leaning towards Monkey. We'll see though, since I have to finish three pairs of jaywalkers I have started. I need to learn how to knit two socks at once so I won't have so many orphans around!
I also got a super excellent dying kit--with a super excellent dyer's handbook! I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to give up the KoolAid (I just bought a ton!) but I'm looking forward to more experiments in dying.
My HSKS package for my partner was also completed today! There were a lot of 'firsts' involved for me in this swap! It was my first swap, it was the first time I've made stitch markers, it was the first time I dyed yarn...and it was the first time I won anything in a swap contest (thanks to my house's prefect, Sarah and her great trivia games!)
Now off to finish my socks...

HSKS Trivia

Who said...
--"I'm not trying to say what she did was sensible. I'm just trying to make you see how she was feeling at the time."
--"You should write a book, translating mad things girls do so boys can understand them."

Hermoine and Ron!

7 Weird Facts About Me...

I've been tagged. Brooke tagged me with the 7 weird facts about me.

The rules: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged need to write on their own blog those 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven other people and list their names on your blog. Then you leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

1. I have no allergies except for sulfa drugs--which I only know because my mom says so. I have no recollection of ever taking any sulfa drugs nor do I know why I was prescribed any. I also have no clue what the adverse the reaction was. It wasn't until I was in college that I ever even learned what they were for...which I quickly forgot.

2. I believe clowns are the spawns of satan...well not really, but they are just wrong. There is nothing funny about a clown, especially ones with pointed mouths. If my nightmares had a theme song it would be "send in the clowns".

3. I love horror movies, scary books, and being scared (with the exception of anything clown related...although I did enjoy reading Stephen King's IT). However, I cannot go to haunted houses after a specific incident that involved me, Michael Meyers and a chainsaw eight years ago. If, for some reason, I did make it into a haunted house, I honestly believe that if I were to be that scared again I would purposefully knock myself unconscious by running into a wall.

4. When I was little--maybe 11ish--I was convinced that I was going to marry Christian Slater... wtf is that about?

5. I'm a huge nut about sharks--my favorite movie is Jaws, and I'm obsessed with anything relating to them--tv, books, movies, etc. I have seen every bad movie made about sharks, shark attacks, etc--in fact, one of my biggest late fees to Blockbuster was Shark Attack which I ended up owning because I never returned it. Terrible movie (I've watched it twice). I will also never swim in the Mediterranean Sea after watching Shark Week 2005 on the Discovery Channel.

6. I don't like to throw things away (you never know when you might need it again!) and so I like to store things in plastic bags on doorknobs--a habit which drives my husband crazy. I never realized that I had the tendancy to do this until he brought it to my attention. This habit is quickly fading after a 3 hour rampage looking for the digital camera (it was in a knotted plastic bag on the closet doorknob).

7. I'm starting to become obsessed with Giants--not the football team, but, you know, giant humans in folklore and legends. I blame Art Bell.

I hate tagging people so... tag yourself if you want to!

Its Peony Time!

When I got home from work I had this pink bomb waiting for me! This is the first time that my Mrs. FDR peony is blooming since I (ok, my mom did it--she's the green thumb in the family!)transplanted it from my mom's yard a year and a half ago. It's not completely popped open, but I couldn't resist snapping a quick picture!

HSKS Progress...95% complete!
I have almost everything together... I just need to pick up some needles and some other miscellaneous goodies and then she'll be ready to ship out! I hope my swap partner Shannon enjoys the package of goodies as much as I did putting it all together!

Quidditch Round Two!

1. Who is the Fat Lady's friend?
Violet

2. When the Fat Lady was attacked by Sirius Black and fled her portrait, who took over for her as guard of Gryffindor Tower?
Sir Cadogan

3. Usually when Harry is in Dumbledore's office, what are the portraits of previous headmasters doing?
Snoozing

4. Which one of the Triwizard champions did not go to the World Cup?
Fleur Delacour

5. Who did Harry give his Triwizard winnings to?
Fred and George Weasley

6. Live gong cram la man (two words)
Minerva McGonnagall

7. Owl or video
Oliver Wood

8. What author's name appears on the book "Quidditch Through the Ages"?
Kennilworthy Whisp

9. What does the Keeper do in a game of Quidditch?
Guards the goal

10. In the Goblet of Fire why did the Mad Eye Moody imposter put Harry's name in the goblet?
He wanted Harry to win the tournament


Dobby holding his sock from Harry

Cho Chang and Harry's first kiss

Viktor Krum and Hermione at the dance

Mad Eye Moody

Learning Anatomy with Knitting....?!

I'm a kind of science nerd at heart...I mean, I did graduate from college with a bachelor's in biology afterall. Which is funny, because Brooke (aka the other half of my brain) studied biology as well. Obviously I also knit, hense the blog. But never, never would I have dreamed one day I'd come across a knitted project such as this...

yes, that is a tongue at the start of the human digestive system. Maybe anatomy & physiology would have been easier if I had this to study from... ew.

I wonder if Brooke will find this as funny as her joke about the erlenmeyer flask?? Haha!

Hey, I'm Dying over here!

Thats right! Today I dyed yarn for the first time ever... using Kool Aid. And it worked wonderfully! I think this could be a new obsession for me (although no replacement to my shark obsession, of course). I took some pictures and will post them soon. I got the directions from both knit picks, streetsandyo.com and ginabeana. Its really simple and really neat to see it work! Experimenting with colors is so fun!
I'm also getting super excited to get my package out in the mail for my HSKS partner! I received some goodies that I ordered for her yesterday and should hopefully get her package out way before the June deadline!
Now I'm off to bed...early morning to get last minute stuff done at the house before the family comes over for a bbq / mothers day! Happy mothers day to all the mothers out there!

HSKS Weekly Trivia!

Trivia # 1:
Q: What potion is this:
This potion has the colour of molten gold, and while exposed to the air, large drops will leap like goldfish above the surface without spilling.
A: Felix Felicis

Trivia # 2:
Q: Which book is this line from?
"Harry and Cho were now too embarrassed to look at each other, let alone talk to each other; what if Ron and Hermione started going out together, then split up? Could their friendship survive it? Harry remembered the few weeks when they had not been talking to each other in third year; he had not enjoyed trying to bridge the distance between them. And then, what if they didn't split up? What if they became like Bill and Fleur, and it became excrutiatingly embarrassing to be in their presence, so that he was shut out for good?"
A: The Half Blood Prince

Trivia #3:
Q: Who utters these words?"Oh I am glad I'm not on duty. I wouldn't fancy having to go and tell the Irish they've got to stop celebrating."
A: Arthur Weasley

HSKS Trivia, Round One!

1. Who isn't or hasn't been a Quidditch captain?

Answer: Cho Chang

2. Who are the Gryffindor chasers?
Answer: Alicia, Angelina, and Katie

3. Who are the Slytherin beaters?
Answer: Crabbe and Goyle

4. What type of broom isn't made anymore?
Answer: Silver Arrow

5. The Slytherin team all ride the same broom, what is it?
Answer: Nimbus 2001

6. Which of these is not a Quidditch team?
Answer: Tudshill Tornados

7. Who is Head of Hufflepuff House?
Answer: Professor Sprout

8. Which Hufflepuff student is reported to have been one of the only peple to have ever given Hufflepuff success?
Answer: Cedric Diggory

9. In Book 1 who was the first Hufflepuff student to be sorted?
Answer: Hannah Abbott

10. What is the emblem of Hufflepuff House?
Answer: Badger

Image Hunt:
Picture of Harry, Ron, and Hermione together; Hagrid; Buckbeak; Sirius Black; Uncle Vernon

HSKS... let the games begin!

Its May 1st-- four days before cinco de mayo and my good buddy wedding--but its also the start of HSKS! How excellent is it that I found out who I have and who has me in the same day!?! Too excellent! I think its great that my swap partners are from Gryffindor and Slytherin--just like Brooke and Stephanie! I love the contests between the houses, and being the competative gal that I am, now I'm really going to have to watch what's going on with those two houses! Sonia from sssssSlytherin has a great page up for her team! I'm excited to see what goodies she has in the works for me!
I also can't wait to start the bag for my Gryffindor gal, Shannon...I just hope I don't go nuts at the shops--I am a fiber junky, afterall! I was reading what candies she liked and got a chocolate craving when I saw she liked dark chocolate and hazelnuts--glad I started a diet this week, doh!

HSKS Questionaire... and go Ravenclaw!

Yay to my house for ending last week in 1st place !! I guess I'm a bit competative, so the fact that there's a bit of that with this swap makes it fun for me!

Here are my answers to the HSKS questionaire which I'm trying to get done before the storm that is rolling in makes my power go out... I just about crapped myself from a thunder clap that made my house shake. Holy smokes, that was a close one!!

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
Ravenclaw!

2. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.
I'm not too picky about my needles--probably because I don't have a lot and most often borrow sock needles from my mom! Lately, I've been on a metal needle craze as of late, and really like knit picks dpn and addi steel dpn. However, can a girl really ever have too much bamboo? I don't think so! I'm not very particular about brands because I haven't tried a lot of them to have a good comparison. What I have used and like are:
Knit picks metal dpns, 6" in length, any size below 3 us!
Addi steel dpns, 8" in length, any size below 2 us, most often 2.5 mm
Crystal Palace bamboo, 8" in length size 2

3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?
Of course! For socks I like to use size 1 us but I have made socks on 3s. I do not have any size 2 us needles or any needles below 1. I'm always up for trying new needles!

4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?
Although my favorite color is brown, I think the color combination from the movie, blue and silver, is more appealing!

5. If your pal decides to send candies or chocolates are there any that you don't like?
Hmm, I think my problem is that I do like too many candies and all chocolates! The only thing I don't really like are almonds.

6. What are your favorite scents?
Peonies and sweet peas smell excellent! I also like vanilla and grapefruit. I like really anything that isn't musky or patchouli or patchouli-like.

7. Do you have any allergies?
Nope!


Hogwarts Trivia Q&A:
Who is speaking?: "You will have your reward, Wormtail. I will allow you to perform an essential task for me, one that many of my followers would give their right hands to perform..."
Answer: Voldemort!

"Socks are Dobby's favorite, favorite clothes, sir!"

I've finally joined my first swap and I'm pretty excited!

How fun is that?! I've read all the books and I'm really excited for the seventh book, and what better way to pass the time than a super fun swap?!

The sorting hat placed me into Ravenclaw...go team go!!

Hogwarts Trivia Q&A:

Question: Who are the two people in this conversation:

"There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!"

"You are quite wrong. Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness."

Answer: Voldemort & Dumbledore

They're baaaack!

The cicadas are coming! The cicadas are coming!

I haven't seen or heard any yet but these buggers should be emerging out of the ground very soon, and its kind of exciting!! Last time I saw these guys was the spring of 1990 and I remember they were everywhere and so loud!

Yes, they are edible (though I missed the chocolate covered ones served up in the neighborhood last time, I'm not regretful). I'll take their word on it that they taste like almonds--not a fan of almonds anyways. I'll just add that to my diverse mental databank of "useless knowledge".

I also learned another tidbit this morning involving crickets and temperature. Although I'm sure Brooke already knows this since she knows ways to tell when the weather is about to change even when its a blue and clear sky out, did you know that if you count the number of cricket chirps in 14 seconds and add 40 the result is the within a degree or two of the temperature outside (in Farenheit)?! Thanks to my favorite meteorologist I do now! Thanks Tom!

I love learning bits of trivia like this, even if it only comes in handy when playing trivial pursuit or if I ever make it onto Jeopardy.

Got any good tidbits of useless knowledge?!

Obsessions--and not the smelly kind from Calvin Klein

Fist things first...

Thank you Shannon and Stephanie for allowing me to participate in your "Random Thoughts" episode on the SSK Podcast! It was fun! Although, now that I'm feeling a little embarassed about my dorky antics in high school speech class. I will be knitting my very own Neptunic--but this one will be for a fashion statement, not for protection like the real deal and I will be using natual fibers, not metal. ** I was wrong about the creator of the suit, its actually Jeremiah Sullivan that made the shark-proof suit.



I'm almost done with the Jaywalkers I'm doing from the yarn I bought through the elann.com website. I also picked up a set of Addi double points for the project, and let me tell you, I'm knitting so fast!! But I'm getting a little worried since I'm starting to lose enthusiasm over this sock and ready to pick up something else. I know I should work on eliminating my stash, and when I go to the knit shop today with Steph I will keep telling myself that I won't buy anything... but I'm sure there will be a post later on today or tomorrow with what I bought, gah!

Dropped Stitches, Pet Food Recalls and Detox Tea

So I was in a bit of a panic this afternoon when I was told there was another recall on pet food--dry food this time. Not sure if this is completely true or not yet as I was having trouble finding information on the web tonight. What I did find out about the food my dog was eating is that its been recently associated with some illnesses and complications in dogs. So, that convinced me to convince my husband to head out to Whole Foods and pick up some Newman's Own dog food and milk. And boy does he love the stuff! He busted into that bag like he'd never seen food before. I had to hide the bag after I gave him his portion so he couldn't get into it. I wonder if he'd be like that with the actor Paul Newman of Newman's Own? Could he have been any better looking in the Hustler? I don't think so.
Here is a link to the pet food recall list in case you haven't already been.
And in other recall news, I got an email today that drugs containing phenylpropanolamine are being recalled. This, however, I'm not sure is anything new, since most of the articles pertaining to this are from 2005.
On to the detox tea. I've been a little 'bound' up the past 5 days or so, and I mean nothing was helping. I felt like I'd eating ten pounds of licorice and it was all sitting in my gut. Very uncomfortable. Well, finally, after two days of detox tea and a handfull of medimucil pills, I'm free. I've never felt so bad. It was to the point where I'd heard a commercial for a 'detox spa', I texted the website to myself so I could check it out later. I was pretty pissed off when I finally got around to looking it up and it turned out to be a "romantic spa" for couples. sick.
My jaywalkers should finally be done soon, I'm an inch and a half from the start of the heel flap--it always seems to go faster when you get there (at least to me!).