Hurricane Katrina

I am just in utter awe at the complete destruction that has been caused by Hurricane Katrina. My heart aches for all of the people who's homes & businesses have been completely demolished. Clearly the media can only show us a fraction of the damages, but the pictures and the reports keep coming in and i'm sure they will for weeks and weeks to come...

In the past hour as i was channel surfing, flipping from one station to the next as they went to commercial...footage of prisoners still trapped in their barracks with hundreds of others a block or more away on what looks like an entrance ramp to a highway. The prisoners who have been brought out are on the ramp which is partially covered by water, where the water ends-the prisoners begin-standing and sitting, waiting to be taken to another facility i would imagine. Armed guards are at the top of the ramp which joins to the city street. I think this was in New Orleans.

In another bit of footage; the words, "S.O.S. 10 civies trapped inside some can't swim"...written on a rooftop in what looks like white paint...a man hanging onto the corner of the roof, pointing to the words.

MSNBC now reporting about large scale looting. Some people are non-human. Some of them are kids.

It's heartbreaking but i can't keep myself from watching it all. My Dad's condo in Panama City Beach escaped any damages as far as i can tell. I was able to connect to a Live Web Cam a bit East of his condo on one of the restaurants up the beach...as the brunt of the storm was hitting. The water was churning with some surge and it was raining but there were people swimming in a pool at one of the hotels in the same area so it can't have been so bad.

I just had to come and poor out some thoughts, but i'm probably off to knit on Conner's sweater while i watch more footage.

On the iPod earlier today: Sugarland LOVE Them!!

~Suz~

Finishing the Poncho

...i was up until about 1am just to make sure I got it done because i realized at about 7pm last night that we might see the girls today at my step-sister's after wedding shower. So we actually have to make a stop at my Mom's house to pick up Sydney's poncho, i thought Mom would see her before i would since my brother is still being a huge a-hole about not letting us see the kids.

So, it's DONE!!!



Here's a closeup...


I didn't have time to block it or to wash it at all so the edges are still curling up a bit, but oh well. She'll still like it!

Some of you may recognize this yarn as the very same yarn i used to make my first pair of socks? I had started the socks in a cotton and was having trouble so just grabbed what i had and thought i had bought more than i needed for Julia's poncho...which i did. However, this 3rd skein was odd...it had white places in it i don't know if you can see them or not and maybe later on at my Dad & Lynn's i'll take some more pictures of it to illustrate it better...the 1st & 2nd skein did not have white places in the yarn, it was almost as if it was either a whole different dye lot (but it's not!) or as if someone at the factory had dripped drops of bleach along the yarn randomly. It usually worked up to only 1 or 2 stitches in white and then would move on to the next color. Sigh.

So i was thinking of course i had to grab a good skein to make the socks with, right?? I couldn't have grabbed this 3rd & funky skein...oh no!! And the socks...Deb wore them once and they've only been moved around from time to time in cleaning...i'd certainly wear them as a trophy of accomplishment, but they don't fit my swollen feet & legs. LOL! Such is life, right??

Ok, that's my little post and rant for today. I have to go and start getting ready for the after wedding shower. My step-sister, Emily, and her (now) husband, Jeff went and got hitched in Vegas earlier this year and next week they are having a reception/party that they are throwing where i guess they are redoing their vows with a priest, i dunno...i guess we'll see what's going on. And today, my step-mom, Lynn and other step-sister, Jenn are throwing a surprise wedding shower for Em & Jeff. They think they're coming to a birthday party for Jenn's son, Zack. So, it should be a silly kind of a day. My family can get pretty silly and wild at parties. Let's see if i remember to take some good pictures to post.

Have a great day. Knit on!! Oh no!! I need to figure out something to cast on or work on Deb's woolies that are on the size 2 dpn's?? Eeek!!!

~Suz~

Poncho 2 Update

Here are a few pictures of side one of Julia's Poncho...side two is about 20 rows from being done!!


This is Luna helping me. Heehee!!


Side one draped on Luna...the dropped stitch was lots of fun!!


She can only stand my antics for just so long and then she bolts...which she did just after i snapped this picture! Poor kitty...i torture her so!!

Enjoy!! I'm off to watch Big Brother and Knit!! Maybe Julia's Poncho will get finished tonight!

~Suz~

Bamboo Knitting Needles

Just an observation to share...

If you've been reading along, you know that i recently finished Sydney's wild Hot Pink & Neon Green poncho - trimmed in Fun Fur, right? Right after i finished that poncho, i cast on to make Julia's poncho and i decided to cast onto the size 10 bamboo knitting needles that i'd bought in May and not used yet. I had used some size 10 aluminum knitting needles that my Mom had given me with Syd's poncho. I'm clearly noticing that the stitches on Julia's poncho are coming out tighter and look a lot neater in uniformity. Hmm. I think i'm really digging the bamboo!!

That's all. Knit on!!

~Suz~

Not the Coming Home Poncho

Ok, I finally managed to take the time today to install the digi cam software on our personal PC that came back from rebuilding recently. So here, at long last is a picture of my niece Sydney's finished poncho...i'm warning you to grab your sun glasses!! These are all of her favorite colors. It's all done in stockinette stitch (some of it twisted if looking too closely, so stay back!) I took the striping idea from a placemat pattern i have in little booklet and i must say, i totally hated weaving in the ends and i must not have done a good job because they are popping out all over. Sigh! Oh well, i'm hoping she won't mind!!



So, here then is a picture of Julia's poncho in progress...not much to look at in it's current state but look closely and notice how the color is pooling in the middle and not on the sides...and of course the pooling part couldn't be centered, huh? Oh well!!



I'm going to go knit!!

~Suz~

The Muppet Show

Yes, i'm 37 and i ADORE the Muppets! I can't help it, I was raised with The Muppets...Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock...The Muppet Movie, etc.

The First Season of The Muppet Show was recently released on DVD and guess what's on the top of my Christmas Wish List?? I just can't wait to get a hold of that and relive some of my youth. Some of the sketch comedy with famous guest stars interacting with The Muppets is absolutely priceless. I have two favorite segments that i can remember off the top of my head...one was with Linda Ronstadt singing "Blue Bayou" while surrounded by swamp creatures including Kemit The Frog & the other one is with Harry Belafonte singing some African-ish song surrounded by dancing African Masks.

A little known fact about me, my generic ringtone on my cell phone is the Theme from The Muppet Show!! ;)

Deb brought me new batteries for the digi cam today so i'll post pncho pics later when she gets off of our personal PC. Really, i promise, Kat!!! LOL!!

~Suz~

Hostage Photo

The scarf, not me!!

Yes, this is TSP3 knitted lovingly by Kirsti for her sister, Sally. Sooo you may be asking yourself, "how is Suz wearing this while standing in Indiana when Kirsti lives in Michigan and her sister lives Across The Pond??" Ahhh, fabulous question!! In case you've not been keeping up with the tartlet TSP3 and it's escapades...it smuggled itself into the gorgeous Booga Bag that Kirsti knitted and i just had to have. Kirsti sent a box with the Booga Bag and some goodies to me and then she started getting ready for her trip to visit Sally and spend some quality time with her favorite nephew, Oscar. But low and behold, TSP3 was missing!! A sheepish email was sent to me, asking to check for TSP3 or any other knitted item inside of the Booga and to please return them...and i did, but of course, as you can see...i had to have a brief "hostage" photo taken of me wearing it. Now that TSP3 has returned to Michigan and been sent on to London, by the lovely Terry, and arrived Across The Pond and into Sally's hot little hands...i can now post this photo in good conscience and not ruin the surprise!! LOL!! ;)

~Suz~

Delayed Poncho gratification

The poncho has had a "small" glitch. I, ummm....decided when i cast on that it didn't look like enough stitches for my 12 year old niece so i added more. Well, so it may be a bit big which is not a problem but the neck opening is HUGE. So i had tried to sew it closed more as i was adding the double-crocheted fun fur edging...but then it looked like two nipples standing at attention - on the shoulders...so neeless to say, that part's been frogged. And let me tell you...undoing crocheted fun fur is no easy task!!! I did realize a solution last evening and i hope it works! I think i will just add a woven in drawstring and then finish the fun fur edging and hope that looks ok. Wish me luck!!

Of course with the body of knitting done on Syd's poncho, i did cast on for Julia's and added a few more stitches than required to hers also. It's just stockinette stitch as well, but on Julia's i'm going to drop a stitch every so many in the bind off, i'm just sort of winging it on my own with no specific pattern although i did see one similar at our new LYS and Lesa had told me that the effect that is also in Clapotis is simply a dropped stitch....so i'm going to try it. Julia's poncho should be more enjoyable as i'm not switching colors every so often with hers...i got wise and bought a varigated yarn.

Syd's poncho, really close up is hilarious...you can see where i twisted stitches and missed a stitch in a certain color, etc. But that's what these two ponchos are about, learning and getting better...even if it is just stockinette so far!!

When the ponchos are done i've found an easy sweater pattern to make their brother something too so he doesn't feel left out and after that, Deb has requested a button up-sweater vest and i've got her socks to knit with the Rowanspun Wool. I also need to make the Kid's Funky Monkey here very soon and i have 6 dishcloths due by November for a dishcloth swap.

So there, that's the knitting agenda as it stands right now. Heehee!!

~Suz~

Knit on!!!

Squeek, squeek!!

Hmmm. Where to start?

I'd say about three months ago or so, our personal home PC took a dumper. It just up and crashed one night while i was doing who-knows-what? and it never really came back to life.

At about that time i was starting to do more and more work from home for P & D so they had Tim/upstairs neighbor/coworker rig up some PC that got me to the internet so i could do my work and that's what i've been using all these months and what i'm typing on right now, too.

Our dead PC was generously picked up by our friend Kris who then delivered it to her companion, Andrew. Andrew's been tinkering with it and piecing it together with old and new parts and was waiting on some part that was taking forever, but at long last we finally have our personal home PC back. THANK YOU ANDREW & KRIS!!! We still need to set up a time to have you over for dinner!!

Deb picked the computer up and brought it home and we've lovingly named it, "Andrewstein". Of course the computer came back to us, two days after we took our cable modem over to my Mom's and hooked her computer up to my high speed account. Sigh. Which is why i'm still sitting here doing personal internet stuff on this PC, ours still is not connected to the Net. I'd hate to make my Mom cry by taking back my cable modem after she's been using it for a week...that would send her back to dial-up speeds of 26.4 bps - Very Ugly!! So today we went out to Office Max to purchase a second cordless keyboard/mouse set and to hunt for a modem. We scored the keyboard/mouse set...an optical mouse, even - NO MORE TRACKBALL!...and i was able to use my $15 off coupon, so that was even cooler!! But the modems just seemed too high at $80 or $90...and only those two choices. Needless to say i'm going to get done posting this and do a bit of browsing online for a better price.

In KNITTING news...i have 4 rows left to knit on Sydney's poncho and i do realize that none of you even believe i am making a poncho because unless you looked at the camping pictures where the knitting snuck in, i've not posted any pics of this project!! GASP!!!!! And now, of course, the digi cam needs new batteries and i totally forgot about it while we were out today!! So, you may not actually see pictures of it until it's in its finished state.

So i'm off now. Knit on!!

Ooooh, Weirdness!!

You Are 0% Weird

You're totally, completely normal. And that's pretty darn weird!

How Weird Are You?

Yeah, ok...that quiz lies!!

Mmmm, Goodies!!!

Yay!! I finally have one of the Amazing Booga Bags knitted by Kirsti - here, in my hot little hands!!



And inside the Booga were some goodies, i'm so totally excited about...i can't even begin to tell you!! See for yourself...



Deb and I both LOVE Burt's Bees products and having developed some callouses and dry skin from working with fibers, the Hand Care Kit that Kirsti sent along was a great idea and will be used as soon as i get off of this computer - i assure you!

Jelly Belly's!! Mmmm!! These rank up there as either my #1 or #2 favorite candy. I'm begining to think Kirsti is a little psychic! I haven't posted that anywhere...have i??

And - OH MY GODDESS - i now have my very own copy of Harlot Wisdom. I'm too excited for words, really.

Thankies Kirsti!!

Now, onto juicier bits, because you know i just *have* to...

So, after Kirsti sent my package off to me, i get this email from her asking me to check the package for a "particular knitted item"...for the sake of this post, let's just call the item TSP1, but it could be TSP2 or 3 or 4 or...well, you follow me...i'm sure!! Much to Kirsti's embarassment (which i'm not in any way trying to eleviate here!...insert wicked laughter...)...she thinks she may have forgotten to double check inside the Booga Bag that's now on it's way to me and she MAY have left TSP1 inside the Booga. GASP!! The package arrived today and sure enough, there is the lovely TSP1 sitting inside, nestled among the other goodies which i was told, really were for me. ;) TSP1, let me assure you Dear Readers, is - Mmmm - Scrumptious, i would say! Yes. That's how i would describe said article. Abso-freakin-loutly devine! But alas, considering that i *think* it's one of the TSP items, i cannot go into any greater detail than to say that i was tempted to have a photo taken with it and if my Deb hadn't gone in to sleep, i still might...wait, i DID!! I unpackaged it, went across the hall and had one of the inmates, errrr....interns snap a quick photo and then i hurried and repackaged TSP1 for shipping back to Michigan. But now i clearly have proof that it was here in Indiana for a brief visit!! Of course, i cannot post the photo here, i'll be sending it in email to Kirsti as a Hostage Photo, even though it's going to be on it's way back to her! Heehee!!

Even though i happen to be wearing something that TSP1 went well with today, it's really not in my color realm so i wasn't really too tempted to hold it hostage for very long.

Ok, i'm going to run off and finish work so i can enjoy my goodies in a while!!

~Suz~

Sock Yarn Quiz... Mmmm!!

What color of sock yarn do you prefer?
brought to you by Quizilla

Nada...

I've woken up for the 5th day in a row with a headache and am now considering stock in Excedrin. Chances are this means my eyes need to be examined and i certainly do not have the money to go and have that done. Sigh. My eyes do a lot of work, daily...so i should try to figure something out for them before they pick up and leave like half of my sense of smell did a few months ago. Headaches suck and they make me cry when they hurt so bad and they make me very, VERY cranky and short with people when i don't mean to be. I'm assuming it's my eyes...it's been since my birthday last year when i got these "new" glasses, the exam and glasses were my bday gift from my Mom - a very lovely, nice and appreciated gift!! Soooo, that's 14 months ago since my last eye exam and i spend most every waking hour either in front of the computer, knitting/crocheting, TV or a book. Hmmm. Arrrrghghghg!! We just do not have the money for this to get resolved...i'm going to need a larger bottle of Excedrin!!!

That's what's going on here and that's all for today. I need to process a shipment of 20 boxes for FedEx Joe and go take some Excedrin!!

~Suz~