Rip-it, rip-it

(The photo is from before I ripped.)

I've been frogging. I'm tampering with the BSJ pattern (sacrilege), and was on row 77 (of 114) when I decided I didn't like the 'creases. (It was the increases that bothered me most, but even the decreases were a bit fishy.)

So I ripped it. I've started over, and so far, so good. But "so far" isn't very far, so we'll see how it goes.

The Letter Meme

Swiped from folks.

Rules: Copy, erase my answers, enter yours.

Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real . . . nothing made up!

If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name.

1. What is your name? Kathy
2. A four-letter word: kite
3. A boy's name: Kieran
4. A girl's name: Karen
5. An occupation: killer
6. A color: khaki
7. Something you wear: Keds. Kilts. (Not me, personally, but...)
8. A food: kielbasa
9. Something found in the bathroom: Kleenex™
10. A place: Kentucky
11. A reason for being late: kept after school (or work)
12. Something you shout: "Keep away from me!"
13. A movie title: King Kong
14. Something you drink: Kahlua
15. A musical group: Kansas
16. An animal: kangaroo
17. A street name: Kensington Avenue*
18. A type of car: Kia
19. The title of a song: Kokomo
20. A verb: kayo (aka "knock out")

*From "The Boy Next Door" in Meet Me in St Louis:
"Though I live at fifty-one-thirty-five Kensington Avenue
And he lives at fifty-one-thirty-three."

Sneaker-Booties

One of my favorite coworkers is pregnant.

She's 21 years old and has had two miscarriages, so this is a high-risk pregnancy. They're scheduling her for an ultrasound as soon as possible (she's only about 5 weeks along) because one of the previous pregnancies was ectopic, and they want to make sure the now-baby has taken up residence somewhere safe.

While I'll be making a baby sweater and/or an afghan for the baby a bit later on--once we know whether it's a boy or a girl and the mom chooses some favorite colors--I wanted to make something quickly. Waiting until later felt, superstitiously, like I was waiting for things to go wrong. Making something right away felt like an act of faith.

So I made baby booties and gave them to the mom on Saturday.

Playing catch-up

I need to catch up on some craft stuff.

My sister was at a craft fair and bought me two balls of this:



She didn't see anything she wanted for herself, she wanted to buy something to benefit the fair's hosts, so she said, "Yarn! Kathy!"--even though it's a strange "yarn" to work with. I paired the Tiki with Bernat Satin yarn in pale yellow and made a scarf for my sister's mother-in-law for Christmas:



It measured 62" x 5", and the Tiki made an interesting texture:




I used the same stitch pattern--but a more conventional yarn--to make a scarf for my sister (6" x 66"). This is a hand-dyed yarn that I had a hard time finding a workable pattern for; the yarn just worked up in such a busy-looking batch of colors (nice colors, but busy) that I tried half-a-dozen patterns before I found one where the yarn and the stitches weren't absolutely at war with each other.






Currently, I'm working on a BSJ in sage-green cotton yarn and on a coin-lace clapotis in Kraemer Sterling Silk & Silver.

Timing is everything.

I'm sitting on the sofa, watching Bleak House on DVD, and two-thirds of the way through a peanut butter sandwich, when my computer beeps to tell me there's new mail. I click over to Outlook and find this from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

FDA: Don't eat peanut butter

More than 450 people have been poisioned, and six people have died, as the result on of a Salmonella outbreak. A Blakely, Ga. peanut plant may be the source of the outbreak.

(Yes, that's copied and pasted, and no, the AJC can't spell poisoned. And "the result on of"?)

When I read the article, though, they weren't worried about peanut butter purchased in jars from the grocery store (which is the source of the peanut butter in my sandwich). They're worried about peanut butter on packaged crackers...like the ones I eat for lunch at work. Every day.

So far, the recall is for Austin's, Famous Amos, and Keebler's packaged crackers--and mine are Ritz and/or Lance. But I think maybe I'll find something else to eat for lunch tomorrow.

A vet visit

Sam sits outside the kitchen while I'm winding yarn. He'd be happier
if I were cooking...or at least dropping food in the floor.


Two veterinary office exams: $70
Two bordatella vaccinations: $40
Two DHPP vaccinations: $37
Two heartworm tests: $63
Total: $210

Two healthy dogs: Priceless.


The dogs had 3-year rabies shots in 2007, so they're good for another year. Sam's weight is up more than a pound from this summer, but he's still under 65 pounds. (He weighed 70 pounds on his first visit to this vet; I don't think he's ever weighed more than 65 on subsequent visits.) Jacey weighs 51.6; her weight is down nearly 10 pounds now that her thyroid issues are controlled. Both dogs have some dry skin, but the vet said their coats look terrific: "Keep doing what you're doing."

Both dogs' teeth look better than the vet expected. Sam's are good (so keep giving him chicken backs). Jacey's are better than they were--the back ones are terrific, but the others are not as good--but we'll delay a dental for her and see if more chicken backs make a difference on her other teeth.

Sam gets an occasional limp. It's not first thing in the morning or when he first gets up, and it only lasts for a few steps before he works out whatever's bothering him. It may be spinal rather than leg-related because it's not an obvious limp on one leg: it's more that he takes a few gimpy steps as we're going outside. (And it's not his toenails...I keep them short enough.) Anyway, the vet didn't find any signs of arthritis or spinal problems on today's exam, and it doesn't seem like anything that merits major diagnostic efforts. I'll just watch to see if something else shows up, but the boy will be 9 in May, so he's allowed to be getting a little stiff.

Stuff

It's my day off, and I've been running errands. I went to the post office and shipped out a couple of packages. The red BSJ went to my cousin for the new baby (actually, it went to my aunt, who will deliver it; the cousin and her family are moving soon). And I also shipped out this:



The pattern is called "Clapotis" (but that's French, so you're on your own for the pronunciation). It's a scarf/stole knitted in a self-striping yarn. This one is about 13" x 68" and very warm and soft. I've sent it off to a friend who's too far away for the hug I'd like to give her when she needs one: this'll be a long-distance hug.

I'm about to start a baby sweater, and I'm mulling over changes to the classic BSJ pattern. Why change a classic? 'Cause I wanna...if I can. But it might not be possible to make the change I'm contemplating...which might be why "the classic" is a classic. We'll see. Anyway, soft green cotton yarn (and not baby/mint green) with pink flower buttons...

I'm going to go knit now...

Bowl Wrap-up

1st (24/34): Laura and me
3rd (22/34): Iris and Mary
5th (21/34): Thomas
6th (20/34): Bob and Joe
8th (19/34): Bill
9th (18/34): Lydia
10th (17/34): Caro and Daddy
12th (16/34): Ashley
13th (14/34): Daniel and Joshua
15th (12/34): Mother

The Sixth of the Sixth

I was tagged on a meme to post the sixth photo in my sixth picture folder. Unfortunately, I recently archived tons of photos off my computer, so there aren't that many folders...and much of what is on my computer now is photos of yarn. *yawn*

So I went to my Flickr account. The sixth-most-recent page of photos is full of yarn pictures, but I can go to my older pictures. I've got 218 pages of photos on Flickr, so I'm pulling the sixth photo from page 213--the sixth page of photos I uploaded there.

Meet Oreo:



This photo was taken 20 November 2005--Oreo's 8th birthday. I adopted her 17 November 2001, and she was wonderful. She was such a good dog that I was prompted to adopt Sam the next year--much to Oreo's dismay. (As you can see from this photo, Sam's tendency to sleep half on top of his sofa-mates is not a recent thing.)

Oreo broke her leg on 29 March 2006. The next day, she died when she threw a pulmonary embolism during orthopedic surgery to implant a pin in her leg. I bawled for days...but I kept a promise to her and put in an adoption application a week after she died. Jacey came home with me on 8 April 2006. A little later that month, I uploaded all my photos of Oreo to my Flickr account.


My first photograph of Oreo, taken 17 November 2001.

I still miss this girl (she'd be 11 now). She was a prodigious smiler: she wrinkled her nose, showed all her teeth, and swirled her tail like a helicopter propeller. She was a good demo-dog in Jen's training class; she'd gamely follow any treat you waved in front of her if you wanted her to "down." (She also greeted Jen by sniffing her pockets. Smart girl.) Oreo frequently growled at Sam when he got out of line, but he quickly learned that she wouldn't hurt him; he just looked off in the distance (rather than facing her head-on) and continued doing what he was doing--pretending that she wasn't right there, growling, hackles up, and all.

Maybe the highest tribute I can pay Oreo is to say that she made it impossible for me not to have greyhounds in my life.

Love you, good girl.

Another Nathan

This one was only a few days early: Nathan Cole Q., cousin Shari's 7th child (5th son). He was due 4 January but arrived on 30 December 2008. His daddy will be able to claim him as a dependent (on his tax return) for 2008. Nice timing, kid! He'll be getting this.



What's funny is that 40+ years ago, I remember Shari's father hoping she'd be born in December so he could claim her on his tax return for that year...and Shari wasn't born until 8 January.

Bowl update

The 2nd was a bad bowl day. All three of my picks lost. But I had a win today with Connecticut.

I'm tied for first place with Bob's sister, Laura (it's Alabama's fault). Laura and I have the same picks for the rest of the games (there are three more), so we're going to stay tied--and tied for first. Depending on the results of the last game (Florida v Oklahoma on the 8th), my sister might join Laura and me, but no one else can catch us.

Bowl update

I have 21 of 27 games, and I'm still in sole possession of first place. With seven games left, it's possible that one nephew might beat me (we differ on four games); it's also possible for three other people to tie with me.