I was never very good at charades, which is too bad. I could use the skills today, since I have no voice. When I fell asleep last night, I had hopes of waking up this morning and feeling much better. Sadly, it didn’t work out that way.

I know from experience this can go one of two ways, so I’m laying low today and hoping for the better outcome. A day or two of rest and tea and Halls stuff, and with a little luck, it’ll pass quick. If Monday rolls around and my glands are still doing golf call impersonations though, I will be making a trip to the Dr. to avoid the long drawn out full on sick this could turn in to.

Luckily for me, I have plenty to keep me entertained during this self imposed chill out time.

I’m snuggled under my old UFOlympics winner, laptop close by, Halls Breezers to soothe the throat and my choice of Definitely Dead, the One Row Scarf, or of course, Hemlock. I knwo I said last night the Noro was going to become the Silk Delight Scarf, but I just wasn’t feeling the love. I rooted around on Ravelry and came up with this one, and it feels like a better fit. I only knit some last night, and haven’t touched it today – although I may knit a row or three between rounds on Hemlock. Or maybe after increase rounds on Hemlock… of which I only have two left!

I’m also catching up on the new episodes of (a guilty little angsty teen drama pleasure) The Secret Life of the American Teenager since I’m actually all caught up on Podcasts.

If I didn’t feel so crappy, this would be a pretty awesome day. Actually, even in spite of feeling so crappy, it’s still a pretty decent day.

Back to knitting (and maybe some more tea with honey). Happy Saturday.

Happy Friday!

My Knit Sock Kit Swap Questionaire is here. (I will also be linking it in my right sidebar just in case my new pal misses this post *s*)

I accomplished very little knitting last night (if you consider 5 or 6 rows of the Project Linus blanket an accomplishment?) It’s growing, slowly…

Yes, the couch IS that messed up. It’s why it’s become HER couch, in a room no one ever sits in

Not my fault though, dear friends, good conversation and an adorable baby all make for distractions (welll worth it though!) I did gift the towel set last night though, and Valerie seemed to like them all alot (hope so!!). I kept thinking as I was posting pics that I shouldn’t be, since I know she reads my blog, but I couldn’t help it *s*.

The weekend will be a busy one – tomorrow’s excursion should be a fun one, and then Sunday we’ll be trekking out east for a brunch with my dad. Monday morning I have a Dr appointment I’m not much looking forward to (and it’s not even one I can knit thru ) This pretty much leaves me with tonight and Sunday night for knitting, so I’m not sure how much progress I will make, but I’d REALLY like to be finished with all parts of the baby sets by the end of next weekend. (quick calculations – I need 1 baby kimono, 1 baby sock, 2 baby bibs, 2 baby burp cloths… the sock, and the bibs/burp cloths are FAST knits, the kimono fairly fast…. and yes, I just recently added the bibs/cloths on. They are too cute not to make them, AND they will help with the whole reduction of stash!!) We’ll see how it goes…

Actually not much digging was needed – my honey did most of it last night once the snow stopped. He’s so good

The weather folks get a bit of redemtion and I will eat my words this time – they called for a blizzard, and a blizzard is what we got! Whipping winds and about 20″ of snow got dumped on us.

My mailbox, as a point of reference

I just read that in NYC the record was broken for greatest snowfall from a single storm. They got 26.9″, which broke the previous record of 26.4″ set in 1947!

26.9 inches! I, on the other hand, have added only 6 inches to my UFOproject. I know it doesn’t sound like all that much for a weekend worth of knitting, but when you consider the lap throw is 4ft across, it maybe sounds a bit more like actual progress? I was on again/off again in my knitting yesterday as my wrist was aching… it started at the Project Linus Make a Blanket Day and I assumed it was weather related, and with the storm, it’s possible I suppose.

Anyway, towards the end of last night, I put the lap throw away and knit a few rows of the sleeve before calling it quits for the night totally. I don’t want to end up out of the games completely because I pushed too hard early on. (and I certainly am not giving up either! Anyone catch Frode Estil of Norway in the 30k cross country ski event? He fell at the very start of the race, which caused a broken ski. He skied on for it for 200 meters before he switched it out and even though he lost almost a full minute and started at the end of the pack, he finished in second place! That’s serious commitment!

I watched a good bit of Olympic games yesterday. 2 women’s hockey games and some luge action mainly, although I saw snippets of some other stuff (like the end of Estil’s race mentioned above). I set Tivo to catch some 3am men’s curling, which I will have to watch at some point. I was pretty bummed to hear about Michelle Kwan. And while I am happy that a local girl will get the chance to compete for the gold, the one interview I saw with her today irked me – not sure why, and maybe I took her the wrong way. I just feel sad for Michelle.

Hopefully today remains a quiet day and my wrist holds out so I can keep plugging away on the throw. I added a countdown clock to the left sidebar under the calendar, so I can stress myself out track how many more days of Olympic fun are left I killed the countdown clock while trying to figure out my IE catagory sidebar issue.

I have a question for anyone who reads this blog in IE at least semi regularly - how long have the catagories been in a wacky alignment over on the left sidebar? I usually view only in Firefox once things are set up ok, and only when I was playing with the countdown box did I notice it was funky in IE (yet perfect in FF). I think I need to not look at the code for a bit and come back to it with fresh eyes, but I was wondering if anyone knew how long it had been like that?
Back to work for me – the sooner I get it done, the sooner I can reduce the yardage left to knit

Edited 3pm
A few days ago I was complaining about the severe lack of Black Cherry Fresca available to me. 1st Mary hooked me up when she found two 12 packs and now Karen has come to my rescue with SEVEN 12 packs!! I have amazing enablers friends, don’t I?

GO!

Well, not yet. Not till tonight. I know, according to the Harlot’s Knitting Olympics rules, 2pm in your own local time zone is the official start. But according to the UFOlympics rules, there’s no knitting till the opening flame is lit. Which is ok, really. I finished up all my work early, the 2nd (and last) load of laundry is in, and dinner is planned. I have completely cleared my night so I can start strong.

I trained a little this morning with the sleeve – it might be considered cheating by some because I might make the sleeve a secondary project in the UFOlympics, but since I didn’t officially declare it as such, I’m cutting myself slack

Behold – breakfast of a (future) UFOlympics Gold Medal Champion

Yes, that is Black Cherry Fresca with the sleeve (which has grown several inches since you last saw it!). The BC Fresca is apparently is rare supply round these parts. I am in major hoarding mode, in an attempt to stave off withdrawal. Mary (bless her!!) picked up 2 12 packs for me the other day because I cannot find it anywhere. I called the distributor who put me in touch with the local bottler who told me it was discontinued. I called Coke to complain and they assured me it is NOT discontinued, but my local bottler has every right to not bottle it anymore. I explained I’m not a big soda drinker and that the BC Fresca was pretty much the only soda I buy for home consumption and I got nowhere. Annoying! I can buy it online but shippng will KILL me! I should be used to this though – whenever I like something alot, it gets discontinued (2 quick examples? Bath and Body Works honeyed Almond scent and Yankee Candle Sugared Plum. Trust me, there is PLENTY more)

Tomorrow is the Project Linus Make A Blanket day. They are calling for some nasty weather this weekend, so I am hoping it doesn’t hinder the event or the brunch Im going to on Sunday (which has been officially declared Olympic/UFOlympic friendly by the hostess – whew!) It figures we have had NO real winter to speak of this year, and the one weekend that I am busy straight thru, they toss out a Blizzard Watch for the weekend. (although, when they predict storms we get nothing! It’s when they call for flurries we have issues!)

Whether you are participating in any version of the Knitting Olympics, or just plan to knit as usual, here’s to a warm, dry, fun weekend!

Obviously, not everyone in this house
takes UFOlympic training seriously

A couple of weeks ago, as I was reading Deneen’s blog, I saw a picture she had posted that reminded me immediately of this book. How perfect she was having a blogiversary contest looking for the name of the book the picture was reminiscent of! And me, who never wins anything, took second place!! (probably because Deneen just knew I never win anything and felt bad for me )

Yesterday, my prize arrived. She sent me 2 cakes of hand-dyed lace/fingering weight wool. AND she made me 2 stitch markers – her very 1st knitting markers too! Nice haul, right? (and is it me or does that yarn have an angellic haze around it? The photo was only resized, no other editing was done!)

Thank you Deneen!!

I also got the 2nd package from my new Crafters Choice membership (2 of the books I ordered initially were backordered). I like that they have cook books available too, and the prices are actually pretty good. The intro package was 4 books for $1, and you only have to buy 2 more over a year. I’m already done with my requirements – they had a bunch of knitting and cooking books I was interested in and figured I should get them while I can.

I only had time yesterday to thumb thru, but they both look like there will be some interesting patterns to try out.

The Project Linus Blanket is progressing although not as quickly as I would like. I’m hoping by the time the Super Bowl starts, I might be close to the decreases? This 1st blanket will only be a smaller 3ft x 3ft square throw type thing. This yarn with the size 8 needles isn’t making for a very snuggly blanket type fabric, so while I LOVE the pattern, I won’t be using Caron one pounder to make another one, at least at this needle size anyway. (I would hate to waste the yarn, since it was donated! I might just bring whatever is left to the next PL meeting and let someoen else have at it :wink:)

Off to the shower, as my honey and I are headed over to Whole Foods and a few other errands before coming home and doing nothing the rest of the day – and of course watching the game tonight. Weekends go way too fast, don’t they?

I know it’s still the morning and I still have to get thru the day of work, but it’s still Friday (and considering the nasty rain and whipping winds, it’s nice to have something to be upbeat about!)

Last night’s project Linus meeting went really well – we got a whole lot accomplished for Make a Blanket Day next Saturday. Rebecca is doing an AMAZING job driving this whole thing. I’m thrilled to be a part of the process

If you live in the area, click the pic above for the details and please feel free to come join us! It is shaping up to be a fun and productive day! If you don’t live in the area and want more info on a REALLY good national cause, you can check out the Project Linus homepage.

After the meeting a bunch of us went to the diner and enjoyed each others company till kinda late (for a “school” night) but it was well worth it.

I neglected to mention that I got my match up the other day and I plan to start those socks the second the TNT Socks for Jenn are off the needles. (OK maybe not the second, but very very soon!) This is gonna be fun!! I have a medium amount of work to do today, and then it’s a (increasingly rare) quiet weekend ahead – which translates to lots and lots of knitting time (with a bit of bread baking and laundry in the mix). so the socks should be finished, and the new ones started (as soon as I figure out which ones to make – I have an idea but need to double check my pal’s info to make sure it will be a good match). I also want to get more done on the 1st Project Linus blanket so I can start the 2nd one. Can you tell how much I love the Caron one pounder stuff?

BTW, have you seen these? How adorable!! (not to mention creative!)

And finally, I’ve seen these word clouds floating around alot lately and did one for me – fun!

Wanna make your own? Click Here

Happy weekend!!

I SO wasn’t gonna jump on the olympic bandwagon, but I must confess, I lost resolve and have joined the UFOlympics.

I will be finishing my never ending lapghan. Finally. Once and for all. And by finishing it by the closing ceremonies, I will ensure it will not reach it’s 1st birthday as a UFO, but a proud FO instead. (I talk a good game – see me after the flame goes out and we’ll see )

So this means between now and the lighting of the flame, I cannot touch said Lapghan. Good thing I started the Project Linus blanket, huh? It can stand in for the Never Ending Lapghan when I need a project that doesn’t require much attention, like SnB or Project Linus meetings.

I blame this sudden change of Olympic heart on my weakened state – I’m not “sick” per se, but I have a stye in my eye that hurts like hell, and a pretty wicked sinus pressure thing going on. A long hot shower helped a little, but I still don’t feel quite right. I refuse to be though, so I’m just ignoring the whole thing. (Sort of. Im having tea and took some cold stuff. I’m just refusing to acknowledge I might be catching whats been going around. If I don’t validate it, it will feel bad about itself and go away!) (ETA 11pm – it isn’t working!)

In other news, the 2nd sock is about 1 3/4 inches from the start of the heel flap. As soon as I finish this post, the rest of my day/night is devoted to that sock, and we’ll see how far it gets today. (ETA 11pm – finished the leg, heel flap, turned the heel and am about to start the gusset decreases. Considering how awful I feel, this is good progress for today) I would REALLY REALLY REALLY like to finish it before I close my eyes tomorrow night, but I’m not getting my hopes up. (ok, maybe I am a little but, but I’m keeping it low key. No need to pressure myself. I mean the recipients birthday was only in NOVEMBER. It’s not like I can get them to her on time or anything, right?) And the PL blanket I started yesterday is making nice progress as well. I worked on it a whle bunch last night, and depending on how quickly I get the sock done, the blanket should be off the needles fairly quickly.

And yes, I know the sidebar is going wonky again. I tend to think it is a del.ico.us feed problem rather than a feed digest problem, but in either case, it resolves itself and comes back. It’s not something *I* can troubleshoot, so I’m not gonna stress over it. The alternative is hard coding the sidebar and having to make changes anytime I add or remove something – way easier to make my change in del.ico.us and let that propogate over here. It usually works, and I am more than willing to be a little patient while the kinks get straightened out.

OK, cup of tea to brew (Bigelow Vanilla Almond, of course) and off to my sock!