It's official

I really have lost my mind. I had a discussion with Holly and Emy and Linda about not having the Sensational Knitted Socks book. Of course, when I saw what the cover looked like, I could feel my lobotomy lifting just the slightest bit, and I thought, "Self, get thee to the knitting bookshelf!" So, yeah, I have the book (insert extraordinarily sheepish grin). So, no Emy, you can't get it for our birthday. (I'm not letting the day apart thing get in the way)
And now for some long lost WIPs. I don't think I have ever had two projects more in need of blocking. First, I am knitting the lacy airy scarf (I don't think that is the official title) from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for my One Skein Secret Pal. I heart this Knit Picks yarn, Alpaca Cloud. It's sha-weet. It's knitting up rather quickly, but as I mentioned, in desperate need of a good blocking. That sounds so dirty.

Secondly, we have this Maggi Knits linen washcloth. I love knitting with the linen. Picked it up at Sit N Knit during the sale (sadly, it was not on sale). But, I am not loving the pattern. In fact, I am not loving it so much it's almost a guarantee, that it will end up being for my own face.
I had picked dark colors because I was thinking that since I don't take my make-up off prior to washing my face, I won't care if I get dark patches on the washcloth. Now, I just think the colors look muddy, but again, it's a warshcloth, so who really cares about color? It will be in my bathroom where no one dares to go!

And finally, yet another Mason-Dixon ball band dish cloth. This one is fun because it's with Cotton Classic and the colors are cool. I think this dish cloth is going to end up a hand towel. When I was on the Mason-Dixon KAL earlier, I saw someone who got carried away and just kept going until it was hand towel length and I love it. We'll see if I can part with it. Probably not.

Lastly, the Top Secret project is almost finished. I am taking it to the SnB tonight to finish it or at least get a lot further to finishing it. It is getting gifted next week so I will finally be able to post a picture of it. Hope it photographs better when it is finished and in situ because when I did the old flat on the table picture, not so much.

Figuring out these buttons

I am having a hard time figuring out how to get buttons to work on blogger. I know how to upload the actual picture of the button, but I'm not sure how to make it link. If anyone has any ideas for me on this, I'd really appreciate the help as when I do a KAL, I can't link the darn button. Irritating!

***EDIT*** I think the button is actually working now, but the problem is, I'm not entirely sure how I did it. :) What else is new?

Bloomin'

Not a lot new going on in the garden this week that was worth photographing. I have some odd purple glads that are trying to look good in the heat and not doing very well. I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of the second cucumber. The first one was delicious and since this plant I grew from seed, I am especially excited by the prospect of getting more than one cucumber out of it. Sugar Bear ate the last one so fast, I only got one piece. I know I should be thankful she loves veggies (unlike Mimi) but share the bounty would ya? Also, anxiously waiting for my first from-seed tomato to redden up. As you can see, she's looking plump and juicy but very, very green. I have this fear that it won't be ripe before I have to leave for VA next week and then some bug or animal will get to it before I do. I know it's crazy, but raising tomato from seed, for me, hasn't been easy!

I think I may even get some peppers out of the deal. The pepper plant is looking remarkably healthy. I've got some lettuce that's about ready to be picked and also, some hope on the carrot front. The strawberries are blooming again, but the one Sugar Bear ate was, and I quote, "horrible." She was right, it was completely sour. Very strange.

And on the flower front, a hydrangea that took four years to bloom. Worth the wait as the pink blossoms are quite lovely. And I thought I only planted white begonias, but here is one of the lovely red blossoms, so either I was wrong or the package was wrong. ("If I am wrong, and I am almost never wrong . . .")I can't even remember with the hydrangea where the thing came from. They are one of my favorite flowers and I've planted quite a few of them over the years. It's funny, in my yard, some plants I Miracle Grow and they do awesome. Some I do nothing to and they do awesome. And then there are the ones I fertilize for years and nothing changes. I'd blame the soil, but all things are pretty equal around here.

Damaged Goods

Well, if it weren't official before, I definitely lost my mind at the hurt book sale at Interweave. To detail the extent of my insanity, this is what I picked up (the prices were ridiculous, but their server definitely had some issues):

The Children's Collection

A Dyer's Garden

Hands on Dyeing

Hand Knits for the Home

Hands on Spinning

The Handy Book of Patterns

Soothing Soaps

Spin It

and The Soap Book

I really had no business buying those soap books as the last thing I need is another hobby of any kind. But, I'm blaming the kids, that I will do the activity with them. Wave as I sail down Denial.

Rockin Sock Club Bounty

I don't know what my problem was, but it took me days to get my act together to get a picture of the fabulous sock club installment. I had to take two pictures to really give you an idea of the lusciousness of the yarn. Yummy! And now, of course, blogger is copping a tude so I can't get the pictures uploaded right now. Serves me right for waiting so many days to post the photos. Check back for them later.

And thanks to Linda, I was actually able to locate the cutie pie tatoo that they sent me! I didn't realize they would send me a new baby skein every month, so that was a very nice surprise. Have I finished last shipment's socks? Why, no I haven't finished those, and it's not very nice of you to point out my lack of FO's. There's a little too much on the needles right now, but more on that in my next post.

Of course, there's a new pattern with the latest yarn. And there's a chart. I guess my chart-a-phobia will just have to go away because the socks are too cute not to knit (after I finish the other socks).

Fry em all

First, let me say that I do plan on actually blogging about knitting later today. Since this is a knitting blog, it might be nice to actually get around to that. But, I've got a real wild hair this morning after reading the paper (again, reasons I should not come into contact with the outside world).

I do not believe in the death penalty. And I have reasons to back this up.

First, the death penalty is not a deterrent. No one in the heat of the moment of beating their lover to death, smothering a child, or shooting someone in the act of a robbery are thinking, "Man, I could get the needle for this!" In order for it to be a deterrent, we'd have to kill a lot more people, a lot more publicly.

Second, I'm not that religious of a person, more spiritual, but I don't like the idea of passing the ultimate judgment on someone. This is where the Dukakis-if-your-wife-were-raped argument comes in. Do I think that I could forgive some bastard who killed my loved one? I'd like to think so, but who really knows until you are in the situation? Killing them doesn't bring your loved one back and I really can't see how it would even give you peace.

Third, it's expensive. Really, really expensive. Occasionally when I have this discussion with others, they lament that it's so expensive to keep these fools locked up for life. Well, guess what? It's not. We spend millions per each death penalty case. To keep them alive and in prison only costs in the hundreds of thousands per case (depending on length of stay, age at the time of incarceration, etc.) And for me, I'd much rather have the murderer of my loved one playing who's got the soap with Bubba for the rest of his natural life.

And lastly, have you seen how many innocent people have been coming off of death row and out of prison? To my mind, one innocent man killed by the state is one too many. (I know there are women on death row, but the number is so statistically small that I feel saying man/men is perfectly acceptable).

All legitimate arguments if you ask me.

But, then I pick up the Sunday Hartford Courant. And there's this story about a man who smothered his baby back in 1986. He was convicted and sentenced to 25 years (I don't know the law on this, but this guy didn't get life because . . .?) and got out after serving 16 of those years, presumably for good behavior. A man, who only showed remorse during his confession, not during the trial. He gets out, moves back to Charlotte, NC where he was originally from and guess what? He's done it again. Murdered yet another child. You could tell from the article how physically ill the original detective from Hartford felt when he heard the guy's name in connection with the new case.

Why aren't we more outraged by the murder of children? Why aren't we more outraged by the molestation of children? We have that Pastor in Hartford who not only molested but fathered a child with an 11/12 year old girl (proved by DNA testing that the child is his) and 40 of his parishioners show up at the courthouse to support him? Is it me? Have we totally lost our minds? Are we just so desensitized to this behavior that we don't condone, but cannot do more than tut tut and move on to the next horror of the day?

I keep thinking that if the courts had given this fool that murdered yet another child the death penalty in the first place, the second child would be alive today. He wouldn't necessarily have been fried by this point, but he would have been behind bars where he so obviously belongs. I think in this case, with hindsight, I would have given this guy the death penalty. My DH always says, he'll line up any day to push the plunger or flip the switch on any of these guys. I get the motivation, I get the feeling of wanting to make them pay.

Especially in the case of molestation. These pedophiles do not get rehabilitated. For a while, everyone was on the castration bandwagon. Guess what? That doesn't work either. I receive all of these emails where you can look up the registered sex offenders in your neighborhood. I think that's just dandy. No one wants "these people" living anywhere near them. But, you know what? "Those people" don't scare me half as much as all of the unregistered sex offenders. These are the guys who keep me awake at night. Because they are everywhere, and regardless of our desire to believe that they aren't, they are and continue to be. I think about it everytime I take me kids to a public park, or a theme park, anywhere where there are likely to be a high volume of kids. These places are like candy stores to them. Statistically speaking, kids are much more likely to be molested by someone they know, but that doesn't mean you bury your head in the sand about the random people either.

I used to believe in the death penalty. I grew up in a family of Democrats that believed in the death penalty. An oxymoron of sorts, but there it is. But, when I went to college I was taking a criminal justice minor and it changed my mind. The one argument I forgot to mention is that regardless of needle, chair or chamber, there is an inhumanity to the killing of another human being, the taking of another's life. And I would like to think, that on my best day, I am better than the scum that takes another life. I am stronger of mind and of will than someone who can smother a child or beat a lover to death. And if that's a judgment, then that's the one I am most comfortable passing.

Darn that Interweave!

Interweave Press is having their hurt book sale early this year. I'm almost afraid to look at the list because that means wanting to spend money on books that I probably have been coveting for a while. If I have two weaknesses it's books and yarn. And the combination resulting in a knitting book is akin to heroin for me. Darn them! How dare they print books about knitting! Don't they know I have to educate my children?

It starts Tuesday at 10 a.m. for those of you who will be joining me down the path of destruction.

Stuck on Band-Aids

I was putting a Band-Aid on Mimi today and I couldn't help but wonder, what color chart for skin are these people using? Personally, I've never seen any white person the color of a band aid. Not to mention if you aren't white. I mean, it's great for kids now that we have all these character Band-Aids to make their ouchees better, but seriously, in how many years have these things remained a color that doesn't exist in nature.

But, I digress . . .

Bush's boon

You know, the situation in Lebanon and Israel is really a boon for Bushy. Cause he thinks that all of us common, mainstream Americans aren't going to notice his veto of the Stem Cell Research Bill. I can't quite figure out if he really believes that this is morally wrong (as my lovely, yet misguided DH believes) or if he just hasn't been touched personally by a disease that could be helped by this research. Because I would think you would have to be one heartless bastard, who believes in an extremely unjust God to have sat at the bedside of someone afflicted with a neurological illness, or cancer or alzheimer's and not get that we need this technology to move forward. You know that it's utterly ridiculous when there are Republicans openly supporting this research (not just nodding their heads quietly in assent behind closed doors.

Usually, I'm just angry, but this one really nauseates me. Perhaps it's my gene pool. While I don't have a firm grasp of the illnesses on my biological father's side of the family here's a quick list of what runs on mom's side: alzheimer's, pancreatic cancer ( a whole freaking lot of pancreatic cancer, heart disease, prostate cancer, diabetes, carotid artery disease, and huntington's chorea. Now, I'm no scientist, but I can imagine that there are quite a few of those that will be helped if not cured completely by the innovations stem cell research will provide. I watched my Aunt and godfather die twenty years apart from one another . . . she got four months, he got nine . . . if Bill Frist thinks in the future that we will have hearts that will be able to regenerate themselves, wouldn't you think that pancreatic cancer might have a shot at if not cure, then at least more time? For those of you who don't know 4% (read that again if you need to) live past 5 years of diagnosis. Oh, and 80% die within months of diagnosis. Cheery, huh? And furthermore, it's on the rise. I'm sure there are many reasons why it's on the rise (our diets, smoking, drinking, combining all three in a deadly cocktail), but what are we doing for diseases like this?

When Michael J. Fox shows up at the door to your senatorial office, how in the hell do you look at him and say, sorry, can't help ya big guy. Or Christopher Reeve. Or any number of Joe Schmo's that are affected by this each and every day. What kind of wacko are you to think that all those spare (and I'm using that word with reason) embryos are going to get adopted? And I love when they tie it to abortion . . . oh we can't use embryos because it's going to cause the abortion number to rise. Hello? The majority of the embryos they need to use are 5-day-old embryos. How many 5 day into a pregnancy abortions are going on?

Do I really need to go on?

And from the duh! file, the House rejected the Gay Marriage Ban Amendment. Welcome to the party people. Leave us alone. Fix your own messes and stay the hell out of my personal business.

It finally arrived

I had ordered the famed Queen Kahuna sock book a couple of weeks ago (thanks to Linda for telling me about it). And today was arrival day. For those of you who are visual learners this is an awesome, awesome reference to have. It's a spiral-bound-basic-bind-it- yourself-at-Kinkos's-book, but it's worth the $24.95. You get the toe-up version of socks on two circulars, some great heels, and like I said, an all-around good reference. Tell her Holy Knit sent you.

Holly in CT, this book is for you!

Let the Italians have their little victory . . .

Cause I scored big time at Needleworks! While I am sad for Needleworks that after 20 years of serving the community, they have lost their lease, I am a vulture at their carcass. I confess, I never made it there when it wasn't closing, preferring to stay with my LYS, but, a sale is a sale. Everything in the store is 50% off and that means some really good yarn score. I'm going back to them at some point because Mimi was with me and I was trying to get to our next activity, so I raced through, gleefully filling my bag of yarn. Got some lovely Opal and Lana for Socks. Addi's at 50% off....I was swooning. And I got a ton of Velvet Touch for baby blankets. I have a (pardon the pun) soft-spot for this yarn because it was what I created my first project from. Also picked up a few buttons. But, like I said, I need to go back, check out books, etc. If you are in the area, get thee there. They close at the end of the month.

Quick Tip

I may be late to the party on this one, so forgive me if it's an obvious tip. But, I find that when I take my hanks of yarn and wind them into cakes, I lose track of the labels. So today, it dawned on me that the best way to keep track of those all important pieces of documentation is to fold them and tuck them into the center of the hank. That way, if I don't get to knitting that yarn right away, at least I have the label in a safe place for when I need the info.

The heartless Ann Coulter

She really is a nut.

Lilies lilies everywhere

This is quite a strange week on the blooming front for me. The usual summer bloomers are still going strong; yarrow, lavender, balloon flowers, hydrangea. And now, the lilies are starting to really get going. But, it's very unusual because as I may have mentioned, for all of them, this is the first time they are blooming, but not the first year they were in the ground. I'm not shocked by the ones in the barrel in the backyard because though they have never bloomed (due to the buds getting eaten), they have always come up.

But, it's the display in the front yard that is strange. I have daylilies showing up where I never planted them and I don't think pollination accounts for this. They're bulbs for goodness sake. And then there are the suddenly blooming oriental lilies that have come out of nowhere after sitting in the ground for two years.I just don't get it. What took them so long and why now? I'm even more surprised that the deer haven't had their way with them because they have been all over our yard and doing whatever they damn well please.

And they are really quite lovely. Unusual shades of color compared to the ordinary orange you usually see. I mean, look at the center of this one, it's quite beautiful. And a really unique color if you ask me. It's almost like a little gift everytime one opens because I planted them so long ago, I don't even remember what they were supposed to look like. It was a collection of daffodils and lilies. The daffodils have never had a problem. Of course, you could practically dump daffodil bulbs in a gutter and get flowers.

In any case, I also wanted to share this You Tube clip on Anne Coulter getting slammed a few weeks ago. It's too lovely for words. I hate to give her more ink, but I love seeing her slammed! I'm not totally sure where this is going to show up, because I am linking it directly from You Tube, but I'll find it!

More reasons to love Colbert

Thanks to Holly in CT for seding this link to Stephen Colbert's latest hysterical commentary. This piece is Joe Lieberman Ned Lamont based. April you will love this! Try not to wet yourselves people.

Come on over for coffee!

A month or more ago, I mentioned I was having coffee-maker problems. Thankfully, the company that makes the brewer, Keurig was nice enough to FedEx me the part that I needed and I was back in business. Well, my friends, the past few weeks have been tough for a girl just trying to get her caffeine because we had a new problem. Seems that now, the pump in the maker is on its way out so instead of getting an 8 oz. cup of coffee, you'd get practically a giant shot of espresso. (I think I failed to mention this is one of those one cup brewer deals, that comes with the little k-cups of coffee grounds you pop into the machine, hit the button and hot coffee in seconds.) So, I'd run the coffee through the filter a second time and get sort-of a real cup of coffee.

I finally called them about a week ago (in all my free time) and said, hey ya'll this is kind of starting to suck. So, I descaled the brewer (which basically means running vinegar through it) and then I poked around with their little tool to make sure there were no clogs that I missed. And still no dice.

So, the nice people at Keurig told me I had two options: 1) buy a refurbished brewer for $50 or 2) get a new brewer + some coffee for $100. I went with the new brewer (that they shipped for free) because with my luck, on day 91 of a 90 day warranty, the thing would blow up. So, this one has the real 1 year warranty, it was half off and I am happily brewing. And this one is so much cooler! Easier to get the water in, nifty loading mechanism (I'm a little bit of a gadget freak) and three sizes of coffee: cup, mug and travel mug. Rock on! So, if you're in the neighborhood, stop by for a cup! We'll be glad to see you!

This woman still has a job???

Okay so my mistake in listening to NPR today because it just gets me nuts. I like NPR, it's just that when I hear confirmation of my wild thoughts I get more revved up.

So, there's this organization called "America Supports You" started in September 2004 to yes, support the troops. It's supposed to be some sort of grassroots effort to show the troops that more of us are with them and against them. Like so many things the government has ideas about, this is so much better in theory. One of their more goofy projects is to text message positive messages to the troops (which they admit is actually supposed to be two-fold, supportive message for the troops and feel-good experience for the sender). The guy doing the story for NPR couldn't get anything but a "no comment." Hello? Here's one of his quotes:

"And I wouldn't have had time to test their online "message to the troops" system, which apparently edits out all political content, with the exception of sentiments in praise of President Bush, finishing the job in Iraq and criticisms of antiwar protestors. Those comments are left in." Love it.

Oh, and by the way, the private PR contracts they are using to promote this cost $2.7 million in its first year. If only they had just made a comment, he wouldn't have kept digging. Oh and he tried to send a text message which did not get posted anywhere. It's in some hard-drive somewhere doing zero good for anyone (except maybe the sender). You've got to go to NPR to read at least part of the story.

And guess who is in charge of the program? Remember when there was a televised video conference a year or two ago between Bushy and the troops? There was a woman who got caught making the troops "stay on script." You probably remember this, it was hysterical and just the beginning of many such blunders. This woman is still employed. I'm amazed the administration didn't kick her to the curb. Guess it was easier to bury her in the pentagon with this pet project.

And my favorite part is the way they are talking it up to the kids. Putting their propaganda in Weekly Reader. And even that is backfiring! It would be funny if it weren't so sad that we're wasting money and resources on this.

Here's the Thing

I believe that if you want to serve in the military you absolutely should do it. I support the Troops no matter where we send them. I think they have the second hardest job in the world (after being a mommy), and I think they get crapped on a lot. I do believe it should be an informed decision to join. That especially for 18 and 19-year-olds that don't have a lot of other options, the opportunity can be a good one, but it should be a decision tempered by the reality of our situation.

But, I don't agree with this war. I don't believe the whole world wants democracy no matter how great it is. I don't believe that the Arab world can have a democracy the way we have democracy because of basic cultural differences. And I believe we need to get out ASAP.

What burns my butt is hearing about the military recruiting tactics of late. The National Guard in New Jersey landed a Black Hawk helicopter at Audubon High School and flew the Principal and some teachers to Fort Dix to show them what new recruits could expect. First of all, how the hell much is that costing us as taxpayers? Second, did they show them the movie Black Hawk down while they were there? I read the book, I saw the movie (actually I read it before it was a book when it was a series of stories in the newspaper) and let me tell you, this is war people. They may not be showing us the flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, but that doesn't make those children any less dead to their parents and friends and extended families. Third, did they shoot at the principal and teachers? Did they blow up any bombs right next to them? Cause that's a lot more like what they can expect these days.

And it used to be when you joined the National Guard, you did things in country that had nothing to do with getting killed. But, not so anymore. Oh, yeah, the military is a great deal...you get all this education, you get a good pension, blah blah blah, and you also have a higher chance of getting killed now (for what exactly I'm not even sure at this point) than in a very long time. I'm not trying to call this Vietnam, cause it isn't, I'm just saying that all this propaganda the military is doing to recruit is nauseating. It's nothing new but it's nauseating. And if the draft weren't such a politically bad idea, they would bring it back tomorrow.

It's contagious!

These dishcloths and washcloths are dangerous. I can't seem to stop knitting them. I did this one with leftover yarn from the other ball band that I did plus the leftover from the basic dishcloth. And FYI on the basic dishcloth because people have asked, I don't think this is a pattern truly owned by anyone. I've seen it in a dozen different places, all with different attribution that runs the gamut from husband's grandma to such-and-such a company. So, I don't think I am in trouble by reprinting here:

Materials:
100 yds. Worsted weight cotton yarn (such as Peaches ‘n Cream)
Needles: US # 8
Yarn needle for weaving in ends

CO 4 sts
Knit 1 row across.
Begin Increase:
K2, YO, K to end of row.
-Repeat “increase row” until there are 45 stitches on the needle.
Begin Decrease:
K1, K2 tog., YO, K2 tog., K to end of row.
-Repeat “decrease row” until there are 4 stitches remaining on the needle.
Bind off:
Weave in ends.

I actually used # 7 needles because they were handy at the time. I was thrilled that I could actually use the leftover yarn from one of these babies as my contrasting color for the ball band (color A) and have exactly enough to do it. Very cool. The green was my color A from my first ball band cloth, so I had just enough of that to do this one. I've increased the number of cast-on stitches to 50 to do a face/washcloth for myself.

And with the fabulous Maggi knits linen I picked up at Sit N Knit last week, I'm also knitting myself a linen face cloth. How great is linen to work with? Definitely my new favorite yarn. I have some Euroflax also, but I am saving that for the hand towels. I'm almost finished with the 50 stitch facecloth so I will post that later. The linen will probably be a few more days.

Sunday morning wrap up

I feel like I need to get back to some of ya'll on the comments about the dishcloths etc. Jeri, the yarn I used for the purple dishcloth was a el cheapo Sugar and Creme from our local AC Moore (that was on sale for $1 ball; I want to wash dishes with something pretty, but I'm not washing with anything expensive!). I think Michael's and/or Jo-Ann Crafts carries it also. It's funny about the other dishcloth with the pooling. So many people can't stand pooling with their sock yarn or whatever variegated yarn etc. I think it's kind of nifty. One reason why I don't particularly care if my socks end up matching or they look more fraternal. I think they are more interesting that way. Then again, let's be honest, I just like crazy socks.

April, I missed most of the Lamont/Lieberman debate. Forgot it was on until it was almost over. I have a hard time watching them truthfully because both sides end up looking like such holes. The presidential debates were a great example of that a couple of years back. J., the fact that Bush has any contact with the reality of his situation has to be coming from Laura because the volume of nicknamed yes men that surround him certainly aren't helping his cause.

Donna, the Euroflax sale was awesome! 30% off on the Chunky and Worsted. I needed the Sport weight for the towels from Mason-Dixon, but decided to just go with the Worsted because it's pretty darn close. And I picked up some other linen to start some face cloths and see what happens. I can't get over the difference between what the ball feels like and what the finished product feels like.

Oh, and Jeri, are you from Philly or Baltimore? I only ask because of my relatives in both places that say "warsh," I love it!
And I know I usually wait until the beginning of the week to show you what's blooming, but this is sort of a special case. I cannot for the life of me remember what the name of this flower is. But it is spectacular. I don't exactly love the angle of this picture, though. I had a similar one bloom the other day and had no idea the bloom would only last only one day and since I missed getting a shot of that one, I took a pic of this one immediately this morning when I saw that it had opened it's amazing petals. I just planted these guys in the spring as bulbs so they are a new flower to me. Somewhere in my gardening notebook that isn't well-kept I maybe have a record of them. Wish I had taken better notes this time! Had no idea the show I was in for. Amazing they are even more delicate than irises.

It's not Just Me

Last night on Larry King, there was an "exclusive" interview with W in which Larry asked him about Lieberman. Something to the effect of, "You like him don't you." And the President basically said that he wasn't going to go as far to endorse him because he didn't want to give Lieberman the "kiss of death" (And I think I am accurately quoting him). How bad is it when you're the President and you know your endorsement could sink someone? Bushy is dying for Joey to get re-elected because of the hawk factor. Nauseating. Really. Nauseating.

The Basic Dishcloth

Why it took me so long to get this photo on? It's those darn kids again. :)

The weather here is finally beautiful, some might say spectacular today so Mimi and I are headed to the park to play with our friends. And if I am lucky to work on another ball band dishcloth from MD. And I have to get to the sale over at Sit N Knit because they have the Euroflax on sale. Want facecloths and guest towels!!!

Needleworks in Newington

I meant to post this sooner, but kept forgetting. Needleworks in Newington, CT is going out of business by the end of July. The entire store is 50% off. I'm hoping to get there tomorrow and will let everyone know if and when I do what's left of import!

3 Relatively political comments (cause you know you've missed them)

1) Ken Lay died today. I know the coroner said severe coronary heart disease (after all, he was living in beef land and he wasn't buying cheap steak with all that money), but isn't it ironic that it happened right after they asked him to turn over the $182.2 million in assets? I think Bushy boy, who used to call him "kenny boy," probably slipped him some secret government pill to make it look like a heart attack. And no, I don't think there was a second gunman.

2) Has Lieberman lost his freaking mind? I love how he slipped it in over the holiday weekend that if he loses the August 8th primary, he plans on petitioning to get on the ballot as a, get this, "independent democrat." I'm not sure if it's an oxymoron or just mere redundancy. As the party is slipping away, and we have the possibility of taking back the senate, he comes in to just screw everyone over. (Don't forget, no donation is too small, put a dime in the piggy bank over at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and get my buddy Robin off of my back *smile*.) I don't know a ton about Ned Lamont, but let me tell you this, at least he had the good sense to say he would back Lieberman if Lamont loses the primary. Because the last thing we need is to split the vote in November. Remember that little election a few years ago where Nader wouldn't back down and support Gore? Think it can't happen? I know nothing about the Republican candidate, but how pissed would you be if some Repub snuck in there because of stupidity on the part of the hawk? I'm sure as the next few months wear on, this is going to make me nuts.

3) I've been a little quiet on the front of wire-tapping us everyday citizens. But, I heard an interview with Martina Navritalova (my apologies if I have spelled that wrong because I am her new biggest fan) and she made an excellent point. Not just because of what she said but because of where she comes from. She basically said that we need to get upset, very upset. Because the deal is she knows what it's like. She knows what it's like to call your parents and hear the clicks and know that someone is listening to whatever it is you want to say. Not right. And the difference here . . . we can't even hear the clicks. Be very afraid.

Look mom, it's an FO!

Yes, finally, something in the queue that got finished. Yep, the dishcloth from Mason-Dixon. I have not yet decided if the colors are too garish, but seriously, it's a dishcloth...do the colors really matter at all? As this is the first of what I can only imagine will be many dishcloths to come, it's hard to tell if I really love it, but I have enough yarn left over that I can switch the A and B colors and see what that combo looks like. I think the colors pooled in an interesting way.

Enough of that, I've got to take a pic of the finished strip of the blanket, but it's currently in the room where Mimi is asleep so wild dogs couldn't drag me in there!

And for those of you who might be asleep at the wheel, the new Knitty is up today! And man is there some weird sh!! on there. You'll see. Some nice things as well, especially the pair of socks knit with handpainted yarn...once I finally finish the Blue moon Socks, I'll actually get to a new pair with my own hand-dyed yarn!

Me, I'm off to wash dishes! (and by the way, what the hell is blogger's problem today?)

Happy Fourth of July!

I've got some knitting pics I have yet to take to show you actual progress on knitting, so in the meantime, I figured I would include my weekly "what's bloomin' in my yard" for you to enjoy:

I start with the clematis because this baby was a hard fought gain. Clematis isn't exactly difficult to grow. You have to have the right spot though and after two failed attempts in the same spot, I figured it was the spot. Turns out I just needed my Pappou (grandfather) to plant it, which he did for me three years ago, and I must say, now that we are established, this little sucker is quite the showy bird.

These lillies are dumb-luck lillies because they are blooming on the first try without any interference from the wildlife in the area. I have some in a barrel also, that for the first time in three years might actually bloom if nothing eats them over the next few days. I'm still skeptical, but I must say, my combo of wasabi and crushed red pepper flakes seemed to be the right deterrent for whatever the hell was so interested in eating them. Damn you wildlife! I like these because they are white instead of the usual orange you see so much of around here.

And now we come to the problem children, my delphiniums. I'm on my third year with a lot of these girls. They are lovely. I have them in varying shades of blue and purple and also in white. I love, love, love them. However, the rain (yes, the 19 out of 30 days we had in June) was rather unkind to them. As was my neglect due to the rain. I didn't get my butt out there in the nice weather to stake them and so I had a ton of falling over blossoms that (darn!) have ended up on my kitchen table. At least we are getting to enjoy them rather than seeing their pretty little faces in the dirt. I'm hoping that if I can stake the remainder, I might have a shot of seeing some kind of blooms relatively soon that I won't necessarily have to cut and bring in. If not, I'll just be patient for the gladiolas.

Finally, I include a picture of the fabulous hydrangea. I couldn't these guys if I tried. They are lovely, they bloom for two months and last year, upon cutting some blossoms, they lasted a month in a vase. I've never had that happen before so I am really in love with them for that. I even got my other bush to bloom for a second year in a row. These guys belong on a greeting card or something because they are just too lovely for words.

Off to finish my ball-band dishcloth from Mason-Dixon!

Mimi's third birthday

I almost can't stand it. Our "little one" turned three yesterday...seriously, where did the last three years go? I must say, she has been completely adorable. And it didn't' hurt that yesterday she told my grandfather that this has been the best birthday ever . Way too cute!

We had her birthday party at our local Gymboree (done by the fabulous Felice) and though we had almost too many kids (the more the merrier, right?), it was great. She's really into Cars right now, so that was our theme. I'm off to knit more on Aden's blanket, I almost have the third strip finished. I saw him today for the first time in months and he is getting so big!