Miscellany Tuesday...

Here's the dumb thing I 'did' at the pool party today. I was so concerned that the kids get covered in 55 spf, waterproof sunscreen that I totally forgot to spray my pasty self. I tried, and failed, a dozen times to get a proper pic, one that would truly show you how spraypainted I look. It's so crawly and nasty, all I can say is praise Jesus I still had some percocets left, 'cuz honey, I'm gonna be on 'em tonight. Otherwise, there is no way I could lay in the bed. I don't care what the thread count is; all sheets are sandpaper on a sunburn.

My bathroom buddy post from a few days ago left me totally paranoid after reading Harlot's post today. I read through 366 comments (it took me an hour, 'cuz I saw some familiar names, and popped over to say hi) and all the while the comment about "deadly dull" animal postings was running through my skull. You all got that, as I'm owned by two cats, I was being facetious, right? So, to let you know that I don't hate animals on blogs, I decided to intro you to Hazel II, or Missy Hazel, as I like to call her. We have no idea where she came from; she showed up here over two years ago and in November of 2005, she moved in. We had her spayed, but she retains her claws, as she's the indoor/outdoor type of gal. NOT a tame lion, she can climb 20-30 feet up a hickory tree in about three seconds. She has excellent "house manners" if you get my meaning, and she is the second tortie cat we've had share our space. This version, Hazel 2.0, likes kids, tolerates being picked up, and brings me presents of, well, smaller mammals. Much smaller.




So, although I did knit awhile today, I have no knitting to show off. Voodoo monkey has been kidnapped by Fancy Lucy, but upon his return I have a redesigned quilt to assemble. I had an idea (in the shower, where all my fuzzy-headed thinking occurs) this morning to start a sock club, with colorways to honor all the funky, creative, and supportive knitters I continue to meet and gain inspiration from. It's just in the brewing stage, but two years ago when I got pissed about not being able to get 'Kaffe Fassett' fabric locally, look what happened: I'm opening a fabric/yarn shop. Renovations to start very soon... Melly, I think you are an angel, or a crazy person, possibly both, and I love that about you... you are one of the best "best bitches" around. Rhonda, without you I'd still be sitting home knitting alone and feeling like there wasn't a soul in the world who 'got me'. You even buy me delicious yarns to fondle (and I will knit them... soon) So, for all the knitterly fabulousness that is out there in the world, can anyone tell me what the heck happened in Cali? And who the vicious blogger is? I may want to check this out for myself... wow. It's 1 am... time to sleep, as the meds are taking effect nicely. More tomorrow. Cami

Enough, already...geesh

I'm so terribly tired that all I want to do is sit on the floor and sob into my knitting. There is so much to do in getting seven people all ready to road trip. My husband has upped the ante to keep me moving forward, though... because between here and there lay the land of 'Lorna's Laces' and the jam on this bitter, travel-hell of a pill is that I get to go inside and buy my first yarn order for the shop... just like that. A stop at the outlet mall in Kenosha has also been discussed, as we have the matter of the missing "good" ice cream spoon to attend to. (Dansk, and a spoon for tots, but I digress.)

I will leave you with some pictures. Some are old-ish, for the reader who did not play hooky to go stalk Harlot with me, and some were taken today, in poor light, in my dirty kitchen after I rounded everybody up for 'group photo-op'. One of the "participants" insisted on staying behind a sock book, as that particular ball of yarn is to be a birthday gift for a certain compulsive knitter who deserves yummy handpainted socks for her big day... weeks away... okay, here's the gang:

so, ignoring the ball behind the book, we have the winning little green Kroy socks, then there are the 'groupie' socks and in front we have (on the left) the gonna-be-lace-if-it-kills-me socks for a certain mother-in-law and the very adorable Koigu socks with the firefly green heels/toes. That chartreuse yarn flew to me in Susan's shop. I knew instantly it would go with stashed yarn from (at least) five years ago... all for a new babe, the grandson of the only woman I let near my teeth.
Speaking of teeth, here are some pretty ones, attached to one very lovely Yarn Harlot, as she appeared April 21st at the book festival in KY. The 'groupie' socks, seen here, were and remain awestruck by this most powerful force of knitting. (The woman was soooo ill... can you tell it? I thought not.) Bye for now... when next we meet I shall be a knitter afoot in the wilds of Wisconsin, remote-blogging. Till then, keep your sticks in the yarn. Cami

Black cloud of death

Yep. And it was all voluntary, too. The cloud to which I am referring is the Terminix guy and his (and I do not mean this in any sort of naughty context) "magic wand of death". Today was the day and I am so glad we ordered up this little dose of death . Can you imagine the disaster it would have been if, say, a fleet of carpet beetles or an army of moth larvae had moved in on my investment? Do you have ANY clue how much Xanax I would've had to consume to make that infestation seem barely survivable? Ugh. I'm pretty sure there are Federal safety regulations against doses of that magnitude, and at least the chemicals being used here as a sanity preservative are tested and approved for my households safety... only the bugs need worry. (and die... I'd like them to die, also... money was paid, a contract was signed... there had better be some six and eight-leggeds belly-up by tomorrow.) Wow, I feel like a mob boss. Oh, the power, the rush of all-controlling power. Like the great and powerful Oz, except MY curtain would be knitted of a lovely pink lace weight, with thousands of tiny glass aurora beads all over it that made a shimmery, tinkle-y noise when the breeze ruffled it. Huh, who knew I had a fantasy Oz-curtain in my subconscious? (I'm shocked as well.) In other news, we have a successful double chocolate cupcake experiment to report, as well as some gorgeous brioche dough waiting to raise and become cinnamon buns. They will be sporting the coffee buttercream icing, so I'm thinking neighbor Ron will be doing my bidding for quite a little while. I might want him to bring over the dozer and push the chicken house into the ravine... how fun does that sound? Ya-hoo. I'd use an exclamation mark, but the blog does not allow them. Okay, so I'm about done here and I really should get back to the inhumane short-row heels I was turning on the groupie socks earlier. They just loved meeting the Yarn Harlot and are still gushing about it every single time I let them out of their knitting bag. Honestly, some people ,er, socks, never recover from brushing up against that kind of knitting brilliance. I'm just hoping to perfect this two-at-a-time sock stuff, because I'm sick to death of having gauge changes between individual socks... it happened on the Meilenweit socks and the Kroys I did, you know, when I crushingly defeated "Imoan" in the sock contest. (heh,heh...) So, back to the ol' knitting board... um, needles. Type at you later, blog-gator. Camilla