Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!!

Here are a few Halloween pics for ya!


The cat & ghost pumpkins were carved by me. Wallace & Grommit was the big hit though, honey did a great job on it!!

Kittys were feeling festive too. They got a little treat themselves (catnip). Arlo & Windle were excited and fascinated by all the little ones in costume. Once the nip kicked in though, they really got frisky.

Barnum is guarding the pumpkin

Bailey is being the liberal, studious type.

Arlo & Windle being playful

And then promptly crashing...

Ok... so in knitting news, instead of being good & finishing the back of my dad's sweater.. or even working on the (bleep) for my sister, I spent yesterday knitting socks for myself! I didn't even get that much finished because my gauge was off using #1 needles & I had to frog it and start over with #2s... I blame Joanne. That gorgeous yarn she sent me for my birthday was just sitting there staring at me. It pratically threatened to become a cat toy if I didn't start knitting with it! I swear! O:)

Only Thursday... (sigh)

Man this week is draggin!

Thanks for all the compliments on the sweater! I got a little more done and am now back to where I was before ripping. I made a tinsy error in the last cable.. but its really small so I am resisting the urge to tink back. No one will notice anyways.. right?

The weather has been really cold this week, it seems to have skipped fall and gone directly to winter here. brrrr. At least there's hockey to watch! (go Wings!)

Oh.. SP... There is nothing special that I am coveting for xmas. Well, there are those knitting books, but they are a little pricey for SP xchange. I will be happy with yarn.. never can have too much of that! XD

alright, off to make dinner, knit & watch the game.

Slowly Making Progress

Hi all! So to prove this is actually a knitting blog.. here are pics of my knits! :)

I am slowly getting back to where I was on Torgeir. I am currently about 20 rows short of where I had to frog from. I am hoping to finish the back by the end of the week. I will feel much better once I get the front started. My coworker is announcing daily how much time til xmas.. the brat!

Close-up of cables

I finally got to celebrate my birthday with my family on Sunday. My sister made me a yummy cake & we all went out for Italian. Lovely gifties were given as well! My mother also hinted heavily that she would like something made out of Alpaca for xmas, now I have to make her something or she will be upset. Luckily I have some super yummy white alpaca here, unfortunately it still needs to be spun. eek!

So now I just need a week of doing nothing but knitting to get it done... yeah, right.

SP6 Gifty XD

OOOOOOO! My first SP6 package arrived today! SQUEEE!

Love the halloween stickers.

Sugar-free Dark Chocolate.. never had such a thing
before, can't wait to try a piece!

Nifty knitting notecards.. love the design!
These will definitely be put to good use!

4oz skein of Black wool by Lismore Sheep Farm

SP says it felts well & recommended using it for Sophie. How did she know I have been dying to make that! :)

And the fete de resistance?

Sheep shaped soap! TOO CUTE! I will not be able to use it. It will be like the "guest towels"! lol


She also included a very nice note wishing me a happy birthday! SP6, you totally ROCK! ((hugs))

Thanks so much!

Happy Friday!

Feeling a bit better today.. actually made it to work, which is sort of a mixed blessing. ;) Doctor gave me this heavy duty cough medicine that knocked my ass out! I took it & had passed out within 10 minutes.. and I slept for almost 16hrs straight! hee hee

Unfortunately, with that medicine knocking me out I didn't get as much knitting done as I had hoped. Only a few more rows on the sweater & one pattern repeat on the project for my sis. :( Honey is going to be doing a show on Sunday & running around getting stuff for it tomorrow, so that should leave me plenty of time to flump & knit this weekend! Whee!

In other news, I got a lovely postcard from my secret pal. She is currently in Avignon, boy am I jealous! She has informed me that a package is on its way! I can't wait!! More PRESENTS! XD

bronchitis sucks ass

Home today with the hacking cough... I friggin hate having chronic bronchitis!

Thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes!!!! I had a very nice, low key birthday & just hung out at the weekly knit-in. Even got 33 rows done on the gifty for my sis!

I have to go to the doctors in a little bit, but am hoping when I get home to get some serious knitting done on my dad's sweater before Lost comes on tonight. I have to pay such rapt attention to that show or I miss all the hidden clues!! :)

I'll leave you with another bit o'silliness

You Belong in Rome You're a big city girl with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better? What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-)

Love me dem Italian men! Ciao!

Bride of meme

ok.. this is the last & then I will stop

google search "{your name} does"

1. Kim does night duty on the starship Voyager - dude, that would be cool {snork}
2.KIM DOES MEDIA BLITZ BEFORE PRISON - crap! what i'd do now!
3.Kim does not affect virulence by the intravenous route. - well.. I guess thats good...
4. Kim does look like Tammy Lynn Michaels - WHO? (quick google here) umm. nope.. well.. no. both blonde but that's it.
5.Kim does not have enough going on - this is true, I'm very boring
6.Kim does not know how to drive a van - do so!
7. Kim does not have a manager or agent. - sadly, this is true.. I fear I shall never be a top model because of it ;)
8.Kim does a surprisingly fine job of running North Korea - why thank you! I try so hard!
9. Kim does it. - short & to the point.
10. Kim does not appear. - ever? wow.. I always thought of myself as a "show up" kind of gal!

Thank you for putting up with my self-indulgence! :D

Son of MeMe

Ok.. so I am shamelessly stealing Dani's idea & doing the follow-up

Google search "{your name} wants"

Apparently:

1. Kim wants to keep celebrity names out of trial. - actually, I could care less, name the names why don't cha!
2. Kim wants to rule all Korea - YES! Bow before me!
3. Kim wants to know
4. Kim wants regime preservation - um.. that would be a huge NO! Revolution baby!
5. Kim wants the kitchen to serve both form & function - how did they know! it is exactly what I yearn for! ;)
6. Kim wants love to be personal and just a touch on the formal and polite side. - what's with the formality thing? give me unbridled passion in the back of a buick! (ops, flashback to highschool.. sorry!)
7. Kim wants to have nukes - for deterent purposes only, I swear!
8. Kim wants the highest for me - this is true, I really want the highest for you! Honest! 0:)
9. Kim wants to be the great ancestor - I'll settle for pretty good though
10. Kim wants a green jacket that is expensive - and is warm.. and perty!

MeMe

Well.. its my birthday, so I'm gonna have a little meme fun! :)

I got this from Weaselrina's blog:

Do a Google search for "[Your first name] needs" (with the quotes, without the [ ] )

So here they are:

1. Kim needs to take off the gloves! - hee hee, no more ms. nice knitter!
2. Kim needs to talk - more? damn, I hardly shut up now!
3. Kim needs some hints - is that a nicer way to tell me I'm clueless?
4. "Kim needs independent strategic leverage against China and Russia" .. well, that's awful specific! Somehow I think this refers to the little dictator, not that we couldn't all use some leverage against China & Russia...
5. Kim needs your help - your help, or help in general I wonder..
6. The first thing Kim needs to think about is retirement. - I think I should find a career before I start thinking about retiring... although if I could afford it...
7. kim needs help big time - I guess that answers my question about #3
8. Kim needs a pee - yikes! tell the whole world why don't ya!
9. Kim needs more time to think.
10.Kim needs to give herself away one last time to the right man - double yikes! what does that mean! I totally don't want to do the dating thing again!! NOOOOOOOOOOO

Hee hee.. that was fun

PRESENTS!!!!

XD

I love having birthdays! Sure, its not til tomorrow & there is that whole gettin older thing.. but I get presents!!!

Like this lurvly that was waiting on my doorstep for me!

Mountain Colors in Winter Sky! From the lovely & talented Joanne. You totally ROCK! And I want to formally apologize for not getting your gifty out yet.. it will be there soon!!

So.. what to make with this yumminess? It is totally soft & would be a beautiful scarf.. but it is superwash w/nylon so it would be super yummy socks too... oh, the dilemma! ;~)

In other early gifty news, my honey got me 4 new tires for my car!! Whee! Sure, its not the most romantic of gifts.. but, hey they are 75,000 mile tires and my old ones were so bald they resembled the kind usually found on hot wheels!

SQUEE!

Windle says: "Mom, you are so weird. Now stop knitting & bow before me!"

Quickie

Last night we were at Borders for a reading by Chris Elliot. He published his first novel & Kris is reading it. Very funny & quite absurd.

Anyways, while we were there I had to puruse the knitting books. (its a law!) So now I HAVE to HAVE 2 books. lol


I actually saw AlterKnits about a month ago a Knit-In. I really liked the paper lanterns, but really just glanced through the book. I actually got to sit down with it at my leisure yesterday & I am in love! So many great ideas!






Handknit Holidays I looked at for the first time & was blown away. There are an absolute ton of patterns in here & some exquiste designs. Melanie Falick did a wonderful job putting this book together.




That's it for now. We are off to Saugatuck today. My mil got 3 paintings accepted by Joyce Petter Gallery & we have to take them out there for her. :)

Cough, Hack, Cough..

Yep.. got a cold. I blame Ingrid. ;)

Knitting is slowly making progress. Since last I posted I had to completely rip out Torgeir & start again... just had too much bad karma going on that sweater. I have decided that it will not be knit at the weekly Knit-In. I simple get too distracted & muck it up.

Instead I started knitting a square that will be joined up into an afghan for Warm Up America. Elisha had the wonderful idea that we all knit a square, so I am starting the ball rolling. I really like that WUA encourages local donations and with Michigan winter on the way, I am sure we will find some very appreciative local shelters.

Not much else is going on right now. Tomorrow is Joanne's birthday, so all y'all pay her a visit & wish her a happy day! :)

Oh.. and watch where you step, I think I may have coughed up a lung.

Goodbye Sweet Puss

Over the last few weeks our elder puss Klio has been declining in health. She wasn't moving very well, she had lost a lot of weight & spent alot of time hiding in closets. On Monday Kris took her to the vets & they discovered she had a mass in her abdomen the size of a baseball! Being over 18yrs old, we didn't want to put her through a bunch of procedures.. especially when this was a terminal disease. The vet gave us some steriods to give her, which they thought might shrink the mass & increase her appetite. For the first day or so, the steriods seemed to be helping, but by last night it was clear it was only temporary.

This morning we took her back to the vets.. she has lost 2 ounces in weight since Monday & over 2lbs total within the last few weeks. We decided to have her put to sleep.

This is particularly hard on my husband. She was most definitely "his" cat & he has had her since he was 19yrs old.

So, here is a last glimpse of Klio. She was a very sweet cat. She had a long & pampered life, and we will miss her desperately.

Lotsa Stuff! :)

Hi All!

Got lots to share today. First off, here are some picks from last nights Knit-In:

Here is Janella with such a cute smile! She was very happy to spend a few hours away from the job hunt and workin on her sweater in the round!
Good Job Janella! ;)

Denise is making great progress on her Gryffindor Scarf! She'll be damned if a Slytherin will beat her!

Lynne, recovering nicely from a nearly debilatating case of Brain Freeze! She also made a lot of progress on the capelet.

Elisha once again comes through with the beautiful sock! This one was made with Noro (mmmm, Noro...) & she melded the pattern together using aspects from a couple different patterns. She totally needs to write that down & share!


Here is my sad little Torgeir. Sad? Well I was sooo concerned about not messing up the motif that I completely forgot to keep the cables up.. I had to rip it all out again shortly after this was taken. (sigh) I will finish it someday!! I just have to remember not to bring it to knitting.. too much going on, can't concentrate on what I'm doing. What I need to do is get the yarn for the *bleep* (hi sis! not telling!) which is pretty easy & I will be less likely to screw it up while chatting!

Things at home are still going pretty good. Joanne thinks that my honey simply had a little freak out fest & is better now. I hope so. I tried to talk to him about it a little last night, but he said it was "all good". So there ya are. He better not just be lulling me into a false sense of security or I'll beat his ass!

Saw Mirrormask this week.. disappointed. (sigh) There were some really neat things about it.. but it just tended to be boring & the plot didn't make much sense. (sigh)

BTW- Have you seen Serenity yet? Hmmm? Joanne & Janella have! What the hell's your problem? Go! See it now!! ;)

Ok.. now some silliness. Like heart-warming family movies? Like Kubrick's masterpiece The Shining? Dude.. you totally have to watch this.

That's about it. Need to get started knitting before Lost comes on or I''ll screw the damn thing up again. :)

Still here

I want to thank you all for all your support! It really has meant alot to me! Things are going better.. pretty much back to normal. Honey seems happy and frankly I am afraid to bring it up.. don't want to poke the bear, ya know? His brother is in this week from Seattle, I think I will wait until he leaves to get back into the "discussion". sigh.

Anyways, in other news Serenity is finally out in theaters. OMG! It so kicks ass! We saw it months ago while it was in test screenings & loved it, but now it is even better! So polished, so well written & acted. YOU. MUST. SEE. IT! Anyone who likes Star Wars or has even a passing interest in science fiction will absolutely love this film. It so rocks! I mean it. Go! Go now! I'll wait.........





Did you see it yet? ;)


Ok.. off the box now. Finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman a few days ago. He is still firmly at the top of my favorite authors list. He writes the most wonderful characters! His stories are always engrossing & fun to read.

In other Gaiman news, Mirrormask opened this weekend, but only in limited release. :( The only place it's playing in Michigan is Royal Oak. Even so, honey & I are seriously considering driving out there tonight to see it. It was written by Gaiman, designed by Dave Mckean, who did the art work in Gaiman's children's books, and produced by the Jim Henson Company. Really excited to see this thing!

Ok. Knitting news. Well, I was 22" into the back of Torgeir & realized that I started the center motif in the wrong spot. grrrrr. Had to rip out almost the whole damn thing. I am back to 8", just before staring the first motif on the sides. sigh. That'll teach me... maybe.

Ok. Off to get the gifties for my SP.