Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Two Mysteries.

Mystery One:

The photo of the finished Summer Mystery Shawlette (Rav Link)

I used my first shipment from Foxfire Sheep Shares.

This is Flock Sock in Marigold. I used a touch more than a skein and a half. It is about 48 x 29 and I probably could have blocked it more aggressively.

This was lots of fun to knit and I needed (read: was compelled to) to download the second clue while I was in Atlanta because I wanted to knit it on the plane. It was a fun and easy knit. And I'm not usually a KAL kinda gal. (I may even make another!)

I ordered two skeins of this in natural to make another Cable Crossings hat. I'm so glad I did. I really loved working with this yarn.




Mystery Two:

Why would you keep this as the name of your law firm?

Click to enlarge.

I've even seen this firm advertised on bus benches.

Seriously!!

(ETA: I thought the dumpster added to the ambiance.)

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

What were they thinking?

And what didn't you understand about sending digital photos into the "wilds" of the internet?
And what made you think that someone who used inflammatory rhetoric as part of his schtick wouldn't be a target even for the most benign images?
And are you just a garden variety idiot? Never mind don't answer that ...rhetorical question.

Clearly, some twits shouldn't tweet.




Holy crow!!

With your multi-millions, you had to use campaign funds to hide your chicka?
How did the fact that this is a crime, escape your steel-trap legal mind?
I particularly like the addition of getting your staffer to lie for you.

I have no words.....Yes, I do. One. Slimy.....





And then there's my mom who's equating Christie flying to his son's ballgame with misappropriating campaign funds...ummm, one is stupid, but not a crime. The other is a criminal offense...... Yea, they're equivalent all right.

Thursday, June 02, 2011

So I lied,,,

Pictures today.

First things first, trip to Atlanta went well. Between forty and fifty folks attended my session (and there were nine other sessions at the same time) and NO ONE left, even though it was right before lunch.....Also, I didn't get tarred and feathered, which I half expected. In addition, I was given, what I considered a prime slot, the second time session the first morning (Saturday).

When I arrived on Friday evening, it was around....oh...90 degrees and there was a big bright thing in the sky. Looked vaguely familiar, but it had been so long since we'd seen anything like that in the sky in Central PA, I couldn't be sure. As if Atlanta knew I was coming, the aquarium, which usually closes at 5:00 pm (on a Friday! How dumb is that?) was open until 10:00 pm and had jazz in their atrium! It was about 6 blocks or so from the hotel, I was a assured it was a "safe" walk for a lone woman, so I went.




I guess I could have taken a pumpkin coach, but my name is Cindy not Cinderella.









The music was excellent, and I made many new friends:

Meet Ms. Grouper. Holy hell she was enormous!!
I wish this lousy cell phone photo could convey the size of this creature.

They have a window viewing tank, like many aquariums, but I've never seen fish get this close, and be so large. I tried to get a photo of the whale shark (about 60 feet long) and a graceful ray (they had a whole school of them) but I just wasn't lucky.







This "ocean" has a tunnel built right in. This is what I dubbed the "tunnel o'fish". The gentleman you see to the left is an aquarium volunteer, that has all the statistics, facts, and trivia about the animals at his fingertips.....He even knows the NAMES of the larger fish, like Fred and Stacy, (and can identify, male and female). Maybe he needs a life, but I'm glad he was nearby.









This is a freshwater rock eel. I don't know anything about him except that he has a face only a mother can love. Looks like he's having a bad day too.











On Sunday, after the conference wrap up, I found ONE yarn store that was open on Sunday afternoon, and with the help of Andre the concierge, got on a bus, and rode about 5 miles to the Needle Nook. The bus driver was very helpful in giving me a head's up when we were coming to the correct area, and lo and behold there it was in a little shopping center. Needle Nook has wonderful yarns (Malabrigo, Bamboo, Noro, all the Cascades, too many for me to remember), a wide variety of bags, needles, books, notions, jewelry and what not. And you wouldn't know it from the outside. From the outside, it looks like a garden variety shopping center craft store. Another unusual attribute is that the person running the store that day was a middle age gentleman (the owner is Arlene who I corresponded with briefly), and there was another middle age gentleman already there knitting a fair isle (or entrelac, I couldn't tell) chula hat. A lovely chula hat with llamas or alpacas dancing around it. I spent a fine hour deciding what I could fit in my carry on, which was my only concern (I brought a space bag with me - be prepared, and I'm not even a girl scout). The one disconcerting moment came when I was trying to decide on a color of Malabrigo Silky Merino for the Drifting Pleats scarf I've always wanted to knit, and two women joined me at the yarn rack. They smelled...no stank...of cigarette smoke. It was totally off putting and gag inducing. And I've never been known for a weak stomach. In desperation I wandered away but they were there for more than 10 minutes, chatting about the relative merits of lace weight......not Silky Merino (DK). I'm sorry if I'm insulting smokers, but criminy...you should know that you can't keep smoking a secret.

After the smokers left, and I made my decisions and retreated to Starbucks(!) which was a short hop across the parking lot, had a cold frapp (it was 90 degrees again), and knit for about an hour uninterrupted. Is there a better configuration - a yarn store AND a Starbucks? Except for the 90 degrees (which really felt like 90, unlike Denver, Atlanta has no shortage of humidity. Ask my hair!) It was then I caught a bus back from whence I came, meeting another nice bus driver, and getting to the hotel in time to have dinner with excellent sangria.

So here's my haul:


The red, which isn't this red, is Silky Merino for Drifting Pleats, and a light green Sublime Extra Fine Merino for the Victoriana Scarflette (please don't ask why that pattern appeals to me, no idea). And, yes, that is a Laurel Burch bag in the background - a little one. And yes, it fit in my carry on.

I'm kinda glad I had a limit. I could have done some REAL damage.



Soon, some process photos.....sorry nothing finished. I can only wish.