This Week Just Flu By....

I hope that you were feeling better this past week, than I did. I have viral gastroenteritis - which is a fancy way of saying that I have the stomach flu. Don't worry, I won't go into the gorry details, but needless to say that my coworkers should thank me for staying home the two days I did. Plus everyone knows that work is a fart free zone :-) at least it should be. You have to admit it's hard to take someone seriously if they are lighting them up every other minute. I went back on Wednesday - because three solid days of being completely alone (because my husband was of course traveling during my illness) was enough to drive me back to work.

I did manage to get two things accomplished -

1. I watched more than my fair share of daytime TV.
Here is a quick synopsis:

• No Bob Barker - now that is disturbing. You would have thought that they would have at least repainted the set!
• The View - a bunch of women talking at the same time. I think now that the blond chick is going on maternity leave that the show may have a chance.
• Oprah - is on at 9am in the morning. What?! She was on at 3pm where I used to live so needless to say, I missed her every day.
• Dr. Phil - is like watching divorce court. Two people arguing with the good doctor stopping them to give his quick quip and letting them go at it again!
  
• Tyra Banks (Wait was that the chick in the Fresh Prince of Belaire?)- not bad - I think she's trying to edgy - but I'm not sure it's working. And what's with the bangs? Yuck.
• Montel - no change.
• Ellen - she is funny - well except for the whole crying jag about her pooch.
  
• Soap Operas - I think that last time I tried to watch one of those I was in college and I think that it had the story line. I know it had some of the same actors - which made me feel old because they were teenagers back then and now they are old and some have gotten fat. Wow - that was an eye opener!
  
• Reruns of reruns - there is a mind numbing amount of old shows on daytime TV.
  

I'm not sure of how many brain cells committed suicide by this onslaught of bad TV - but I think that I'm just starting to recover now.

2. I got the sleeves done for my sweater. Both of them! I have to admit that I thought that I would have been able to get more accomplished than just the sleeves - but I guess that proves that I was really sick.

Ok - here is a picture of one of the sleeves - but believe me I have another exactly the same.

Can you see the pattern at the top? I guess what I do is make the front and back of the sweater and do the pattern up to this same row number. Then I put them together and knit a yoke to the top of the sweater - the same way I had made that lady bug sweater. Isn't that funny that making that little sweater set me up for knowing how to make this one.

Before I go, I would like to thank George for keeping me company. There wasn't a time that he wasn't sleeping beside me or following me into the bathroom. If I did manage to leave him outside the door - - there he was scratching at the door. I always have this wild idea of what George does when we are not home and let me say that I'm glad that he was able to set aside all those plans and instead spent the days with me.

So here's to you George! Enjoy!!

Best In Show!

I don't know about your neighborhoods - but fall is a time for festivals and shows in ours. There was the St. Charles Scarecrow festival, the Mecum Car Auction (really a car show for those of us with less than a couple of hundred extra grand rolling around in our pockets!), the Naperville Octoberfest, etc, etc, etc..... We used to have friends that showed cats - that's something that I think everyone should experience at least once in their lives. If I have to come back as anything after I die, I want it to be a cat that someone takes to those cat shows. I'd have a special diet, my own special toys - which more catnip in them to calm a German Shepard, a very strict grooming regiment, no one would fix me or cut off my claws -only a gentle manicure will do, and basically I would be the single most important thing in the lives of the "owner" (I question at this point who really owns who!). In fact, we had a couple of friends of ours come down to the Chicago area just last week for a show of people who paint miniatures That is, people that paint small figurines (of every size and shape) that have so much detail that you can not only see the expression on their faces but also read the fine print on the buttons on their lapel!! Amazing!!! (Note: Before this I didn't even know what a miniature was, let alone that people in this country painted them. I guess that I just figured that the Chinese had this part of the market all tied up with the lead paint sales going through the roof in that part of the world!).

For me, there's two things that all these festivals and shows have in common.

One: They remind me of the movie, "Best In Show." If you haven't seen it, you must. Check out the link to the trailor (Yes, it's the blue underlined part above - also then I can show off that I have mastered linking). It really shows how we can get so tied up in our hobbies and interests that we can manage to lose a grip on reality trying to get the recognition for our accomplishments away from work. A once innocent hobby has taken a turn and slipped into the "that's a little weird" zone.

Two: They all have the same feel of people anxiously sitting around with their creations, things for sale, animals that have been over pampered, etc out for all to see (and purchase if they are for sale) while Customers - we'll call them evaluators - all browse around these booths of items to pick the one that they feel is the best. These evaluators show this "bestness" through their purchases - if not, their Oooo's and Ahhhhh's. These affirmations (all be it the necessary ingredient) make all of the time and energy worth the effort that it took to put on the "Show." Ah competition - "The Thrill of Victory - and the Agony of Defeat!" (Note: If someone doing these shows tries to tell you that it is for the money - they are fooling themselves. I bet that more money went into making these items then could ever be gained from their sale. If not into what went into the items for sale - more money certainly went into the excess materials needed to make more items. The more they make, the more they buy more materials - it's a vicious circle really. Now I'm not knocking this - I actually think that it is part of the life cycle of the art. The only people making the money are the people selling the materials. This is what drives the big box stores of the world!! This is one of the main reasons why we crafters need to buy things from the small, independent stores - they are most certainly run by people who are trying to support their habit!)

Did you ever notice that there is always at least one thing that stands out that everyone wants to buy?! And that this affirmation of accomplishment gets transferred to the people that are successful in picking up this item! Well, I just want you to know that the metal pumpkin was the "it" item at the St. Charles Scarecrow Festival and that I was victorious in purchasing said item. This I "accomplished" after about a 30 minute wait in line (in about 90F heat) with my $25 burning a hole in my pocket, my husband waiting patiently in the shade (God bless his heart), with anticipation as I watched the other women one by one carry away their prizes like they had themselves conquered the sale . Then after victoriously purchasing and obtaining this craft of the day, I realized that the metal pumpkin weighed at least 2 lbs and that I was stuck awkwardly carrying it through the rest of the fair. However, it was all worth it for every time that a woman stopped me as I milled through the festival to inquire where I had purchased such a "gem." So I know you all want to see it, so here it is:
The funny part is that this pumpkin is most definitely not hand made -Todd the engineer in the family, had great pleasure in pointing out to me. Ah easy come, easy go. It made the whole day worth it in my mind - and every time I look at it, I'll be reminded of my victory.

I also picked up a very nice Douglas Fir Picky Root basket that was definitely hand made by the man who was able to tell me everything about the basket - even the fact that he had named it! (See my last blog about naming your creations - not such a stupid idea - now is it?!). Here it is:

This was the Mountain Peaks Basket - as named by the artist - for the peaks in the front of the basket as well as the long tall handle (sorry I should have taken a bit of a different angle to show off the name - but you get the idea). This artist's enthusiasm almost took away the sting of that fact that at the end of the festival I saw similar baskets for about half the price. Darn it anyway!! (This would be our agony of defeat that day).

Before I go, George wanted to share his prize pumpkin - he figured if someone in the festival could take credit for a pre-manufactured item - so could he, plus any holiday that uses the word "treat" is number one in his book!

Now go out and enjoy the fall shows before it snows!!

Lady Bug, Lady Bug, Fly Away Home!

So it all started in Flin Flon....the lady bug sweater pattern and buttons, I mean.

I got the lady bug buttons from my MIL aren't they cute as a button? Well....you know what I mean. The bag with all the bugs milling about makes me think of going to the zoo - with the animals all caged up. The knitting of the sweater releases them and sets them free (kind of profound now - don't you think!)....well, except for the whole being tied to the sweater so they stay in one place that is. Maybe again....not so much like a zoo at all - now that I think about it. Good, I was starting to feel like a member of PITA there for a second (Side Note: When I worked at Carolina Turkey's the lab manager used to tell me that I was a member of pita, which of course stood for: Pain In The Ass :-).

The pattern came from one of Jane's collection. I changed it slightly with the Fair Isle part of the pattern was green in the original - which I changed to black to set off the black in the lady bugs. Also the lady bugs had antennas in the original - which I took off because I have never seen a lady bug with an antenna! Sheeesh!!

There are a total of 19 lady bugs across the yoke of the sweater. (I actually got that term "yoke" from the pattern, but I thought that it made me sound very knitting knowledgeable so I just threw it into the bog very nonchalantly...it would have worked too - had I not had this aside. Douuh.....).

Take a closer look at the yoke - egg-citing isn't it?! Ok I couldn't resist the yoke joke.



























Now for the biggest critic of all - the George Smell test:
By George, I think he likes it!











Speaking of George, I think everyone needs a bit of George update. George goes through stages of when he is interested in different things. And George is very stubborn, when he goes through these stages he only thinks about that one thing and drives you crazy until he gets what he wants. So George has always been fascinated with water, but he has taken it to a new level. Since hearing on the news how bottled water is nothing more than water that has been sent through a filter and the bottles are filling up our landfills at a very rapid rate - we decided to purchase a Brita water filter/container for our refrigerator. It's very nifty and fits easily in our refrigerator and has a spigot so you don't even have to take it out of the fridge. But George loves it!!!! He loves watching the water come out of it. He loves trying to drink the water as we pour his water into his bowl from the container (yes, George likes cold water)! George thinks that if we are getting a glass of water for ourselves - that it is really for him and he trys to drink out of it! Now he thinks that every time we open the refrigerator that we are getting water so he darts his head into the refrigerator. So we are having races to the refrigerator on a fairly regular basis. Not only that - but now if he sees a glass anywhere in the house - that it must have water in it - so he trys to drink out of it. If the level is too low for him to get his nose to it - he has figured out that it just easier to stick his paw in the glass and knock it over. So....we are now having water spilled all over the house!! The other day, while sleeping - George spied the water glass next to the bed and spilled it right onto my pillow - while I was sleeping!! Good Morning!!

So that's what we have been up to. Water you been up to?