A Bit of Entertainment

So I'm not a jelly donut. Apparently, I'm close.

You Are a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

You life your life in a free form, artistic style. You are incredibly creative and at times, quite messy. Deep down, you are a kid at heart. And you aren't afraid to express it. Your best friend: The Grilled Cheese Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Club Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

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I have been wishing I could see a specific demonstration on-line. And a friend sent it to me today!

Watch the video at this location and count the number of times the white team passes the ball.

Go on. Then come back here.

Now, go watch the same video, but watch it as though you were watching a movie.

Then, if you're intrigued, you might enjoy reading the New York Times article on a similar topic (it references this video).

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I am not quite sure I believe this guy's parents had even MET yet in 1973. Just sayin'!

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A little off-beat humor for you. I just love this kind of silly thing.

Make me an offer?

I've got a couple skeins of yarn that I really don't like that much. It's a color thing.

I really want to try out a skein of Schaefer Anne. I've got one. Look.





I just don't like those colors. Is there anyone out there who'd be interested in trading with me?

Here's my taste - I went to the Simply Socks website and made a list of the colors there that I like. Billie Holliday, Dian Fossey, Charcoal, Georgia Okeefe, Lilac, Jewels, Scotch Thistle and The Blues. Mine isn't on their page, so if you've got a skein and can't find a picture, post one for me somewhere and send me a link.

There's a giveaway with this. If you want it, I'll throw in one of these other skeins...





The top one is a sort of off-beige with complimentary colors, and the bottom one is absolutely salmon with complimentary colors. Natalie over at the Yarn Yard does beautiful work. These two colors that I got from the sock club are just not to my taste.

If you don't want to leave a comment on my blog, send me an email. It's a yahoo.com email address and the username is carolstone. Make the subject "Schafer Anne" or I'll delete it as spam, since that's *all* I ever get at that address!

I'll give this a week (until Thursday, August 23rd) before I do anything else with this yarn (like take it to SnB and whine....).

*updated August 23rd. Thank you, I've got someone to trade with!

Horton Hears a Who

Seriously. I can't believe this.



Just. Amazing. No. Kidding.

Secret Pal 11 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I'm having a great time knitting my mystery stole in Knitpicks laceweight Alpaca. My yarn does not need to be top shelf. And I do definitely like a top shelf yarn now and again. I like scarves to be two skeins long. One skein turns into a hat. I knit a lot of socks and I demand that my sock yarn be able to go in a machine. I'm even beginning to get along with cotton.

I have said in the past that I don't like acrylic. And that's true to a point, but I'm talking about that old standard Red Heart and anything that feels like it. Yet...that's the perfect yarn for indestructible winter slippers. And then there's baby acrylic - it's fine with me, since I only use it for charity baby knitting.

I did find myself physically unable to knit with chenille. And I got my hands on something else that I couldn't deal with. It was a thick and thin multi-stranded Noro thing that had at least one strand of something with the consistency of very thick, splitty, non-waxed dental floss and another strand of something that just kept sort of pulling and splitting and was white and somewhat cloud-like. I simply couldn't manage it. I know it was from Noro, but I can't tell which it was from the photos I can find of Noro yarns at the moment.

So, in the end, send me anything but chenille. If it's for socks, make it machine-washable. And stay away from anything that has completely different personalities of yarn wound together.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I just broke down and bought myself a folding circular-needle holder and I love it. I've been keeping the rest of my needles either in a drawer or in one of those desktop pen-holders. Now I'm thinking that I really might like one of those fabric rolls for the rest of my needles. I resisted this idea for so long that I'm not really coming to terms with the idea.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

My skill level is probably more fearless than beginner, intermediate or advanced. Too dumb to realize I can't do something - I'll get it if I just work at it, right? I learned (continental) from my grandmother when I was a kid, but I only started making stuff I could wear (mostly socks) in the past year.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Yeah. I don't know that I'd send you there. It's more a place I store stuff people have recommended to me, or stuff I want to think about wanting. Maybe I'll make a version for this and link to it. If I get to it...

5. What's your favorite scent?

A single favorite scent? Hah! Lavender. Rosemary. Rose. Coffee. Honey. Chocolate. Citrus - especially lime and grapefruit.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Dark Chocolate and SweeTarts. I absolutely can not say no to Dark Chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

One of these days I will learn to spin. Not just yet. I have started doing a little tiny bit of beading recently. Not much. I like to garden and I'm not good at it.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

Yes, I can play MP3s, but I'm really against breaking copyright laws. I am an Arrogant Worms fan - I have two of their CDs - Dirt and Semi-Conducted. I'll get another one when they come through next year. There really isn't much of anything else that I like that I'm looking for at the moment.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

I tend to prefer violet/green/blue/black. And feel free to surprise me. If you've ever heard of that summer/winter/spring/fall color thing, I'm a winter. I really don't like orange and don't much like the classic fall color scheme - rust, tan, brown. And yet, I'm much more likely to try knitting something completely off-the-wall if I've got a color scheme that I don't like. It's almost as though I figure I can't make it any worse!

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I am staff to one slightly ill white kitty cat (she's only got one working kidney). My sweetheart and I have been together for over 10 years.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Yes to hats, scarves and mittens. No to ponchos. >shudder< Too 60's for me, sorry.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I am a sockaholic. I just cast on for another pair. I'm feeling much better now.

13. What are you knitting right now?

I've got the Mystery Stole 3 and a short-sleeved cotton sweater/jacket on the needles at the moment. Plus a pair of socks.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Oh, yes.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I mostly stick with my Addi Turbo circulars. But I got the KnitPicks circulars in 1,2 and 3. I really like them a lot.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Yes, I'm very fortunate!

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

About a year old. It's a sweater. I blocked half the pieces, put them somewhere (I'm not sure where), and blocked the rest of the pieces. Now I have to find the first half, sew them together, and do the button band and neck. Ok, I have to put my knitting needles down long enough to go looking for the first half of the sweater. Never fear, I will go hunting as soon as I start to get chilly.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

Whatever is coming up next. Could we make one up? International Knitting Day? Sorry, I'm a little burned out at the moment...

19. Is there anything that you collect?

I am rather fond of giraffes.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I could use a renewal for my Interweave Knits. Especially now that Eunny is editor.
I find it very strange, but I just discovered that I do not own dpns in size 1.
And I've got a really strong hankering for the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Does it come in adult sizes, too?

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Well, yeah. I've signed up for the Mittens of Rovaniemi class at Webs in September. I'd like to learn to spin, but I'm not on fire yet. I haven't gotten the nerve up yet to either learn to make soap or to dye any yarn.

And I dream of raising chickens and/or rabbits. Some things should stay in fantasy-land, you know?

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

My feet are 9 inches in circumference by 9 inches long. Just call me square. I'm actually about to start knitting socks for my sweetheart, since I've got plenty at the moment and he's only got 3 pair from me. That means I'm in need of black, navy blue, dark gray and maybe dark brown sock yarn.

23. When is your birthday?

February 17.

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

I'm on the wait list. There are over 8,000 people ahead of me. And now I hear that it's an incredible way to spend time. I'm wondering if that's going to turn out to be like LibraryThing for me - sign up, get overwhelmed by the amount of work and just never go back...

Please note: If you sent me nothing but yarn, I would be completely happy.

Sockapalooza Socks Arrived!

Aren't these lovely?

My pal, Laura, knit Falling Leaves from Knitty in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the "Foxy Lady" colorway. I liked them so much, I already wore them!

She also sent me the rest of the yarn from the skein, an extra ball of SOCK YARN, and some extra goodies from her northern California area - chocolate and coffee! I have been very careful not to touch anything since it arrived (other than the socks), but I suspect the chocolate won't make it through another 24 hours...


Ah, someone to feed my addictions. Thank you SO much, Laura!

$1.81 to Arrive on Monday

[In which I finally post a photo of the socks I knit for my Sockapalooza pal.]

When I went to the post office to mail these, the postman said to me, "$1.81 to arrive on Monday," and I thought, "Hmm, maybe I should post that picture before the socks arrive."

So now that it's Sunday night, I think I'd better get a move on, eh?

I lost the ball band on this yarn, but I'm pretty sure it was Cherry Tree Hill yarn. The colorway was called "Carnival." My pal said she doesn't like pale colors. When I saw this yarn, I thought it was too vibrant for me and would be perfect for her. As I knit them, I became somewhat skeptical. Did the colors just look a bit paler than I thought at first? Or are these growing on me so much that I want an excuse to keep them?

Well, they're too big for me, so she gets them, even though I'm not quite sure the yarn is vibrant enough for her.

And I couldn't get a decent picture of them. This is the best I could do. Both the colors and the pattern got great accolades in person. This is just a poor photo.

I've really enjoyed meeting my pal through her blog. She lives in the same state as I do. Maybe we'll bother to meet one of these days.