In local news, some moron (or morons) decided not only to keep cobras as pets, but to allow them to escape into a Dallas apartment complex Deadly Snake Still At Large

We have the smaller snake safely in confinement at the zoo, awaiting shipment to its new much more suitable home. The larger one is still on the loose.



Along with everyone else in the known world, I've been watching with amusement the auction of the Guy in the Wedding Dress on ebay. I can't believe it's causing such a stir, over 4 million hits, he's been on TV, and at one point the (fake) bids were over $10 million. Ebay security cleaned up that mess, but it's still going for $15,000 as of 4:30PM Central Time, with a little less than an hour to go. I've got to get Larry Star to write my ebay listings. Looks like some idiot finally bought the dress for $3800. There is an article in the Seattle Times suggesting that parts of his story were untrue. Who cares? He got his 15 minutes of fame.

I want to thank the person, whoever it is, who mentioned on a blog or a list about bra fittings at Victoria's Secret. I've never thought about being measured, damn it, I know what size I am. Or not. I've been wearing a size too small. It was totally worth it. They don't charge for the fitting, but I thought I should buy at least one. I'm used to shopping at Target or Wal-mart for undergarments, so there was a bit of sticker shock, but I'm over it.

Last Read: Mr. Maybe -Jane Green         The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger

Still plugging along on the same old, same old.

1. Sleeves for Guild sweater, on 2 circs, so I can maintain the illusion it isn't taking as long as if I did them individually
2. Part 4 of Mystery 6, no way this will be finished this month, I don't even have a 1/4 of it done yet
3. Regia cotton socks, only do a round or three in the evenings while reading in bed so they won't be done anytime soon
4. Finished Part 2 of Mini Mystery E, but then found out that the designer had posted the "wrong" chart to the group, so what I finished isn't what it's supposed to really look like. I've set it aside to decide if I'm going to fuck with it, or leave it the way it is. I really don't care if it doesn't look like a carbon copy of everyone elses, unlike some of the group who unpicked everything because it wasn't the same as the "right" chart
5. Critter blankets, have six done, one more almost done and got five more skeins of yarn. These have morphed into my work project so I can do other stuff without feeling pressured to get the blankets finished
6. No further progress on Common Ground, I have a feeling there will be no further progress until I get caught up on Mystery 6

Haven't touched a cigarette since I first put on the patch. This is made easier in that I hate to drive, so as long as I stay away from the part of town with the smoke shop I dont have the urge to just hop in the car and pick up a pack.

Got some items back from my framer, she's in Mineola which is 80 miles away from the house. Usually I go twice a year, drop off 7 to 10 finished items and she Fedex's them to me when she's done. These are four years worth of Linda Driskell's Heirloom Sampler in a Year, hanging on the bedroom wall.



And being indulgent, here are some close ups of various details. As you can probably tell, I'm pretty proud of them, they represent quite a bit of work. Call me crazy, but I'd never done drawn thread or cutwork before I started the first one of these.



Just Finished:

So, I'm trying to be all healthy and quit smoking. I have tried before, and even been successful for up to eighteen months, but when life gets hard willpower falters. Hopefully I'll have better luck this time. I went to my local CVS and picked up a box of Nicoderm CQ patches. I wasn't really paying too much attention, and went ahead and bought the same ones I bought the last time. No problem, right?

Problem. Since I smoked less than 10 cigs a day, I should have started with step 2 instead of step 1. I slap on a patch, and a little while later I'm feeling like death warmed over. I managed to give myself nicotine poisoning. I'm such an idiot, and that's what you get for not following directions!

I did get the correct patches, and have been cigarette free for a whole week. Now if there were only a patch that would help me stop buying sock yarn my bank account would thank me.


I'm still crocheting away on various blankets for the Critter Knitters.

I have two more skeins of yarn to go, and then I'll see if Wal-Mart has any other variegated colors that I haven't done yet. I'm going to slow down though; I really haven't been working on much of anything else.

Voodoo Vince came in the mail from Gamefly. I'm enjoying it, but Robbyn was right, it's getting more and more difficult. The boss battles are hilarious. Dave got some Star Wars game, so we're fighting over the TV. Fortunately we both enjoy watching the other play and back seat gaming almost as much as having the controller in hand, so it isn't all out war.

Sent a box with four blankets off to Liz on Tuesday. I was planning to mail on Monday, but I was so close to finishing another blanket that I waited. That blanket was a clone of the smaller unruffled blanket. For some reason I bought two skeins of that yarn, and then found out I can make an 18 x18" square blanket with one skein using this pattern .

I've since finished another cat blanket in red white and blue, and have started one in a very bright rainbow. Dave says he doesn't think the kitties will be able to sleep on the blanket since the yarn is so loud. I want to find sock yarn in the same color scheme, I think he's embarrassed to be seen with me sometimes.

It seems to take me about three or four days to make the cat blankets so the six skeins of yarn I have left won't last very long. I might make a few more, but I don't know, I might have to move onto single color yarn, and that would be boring.

I feel really strongly about the project since I used to volunteer as a dog walker at the ASPCA when I was in high school, and I worked for a (thankfully) brief period as an euthanasia technician in a shelter in Pennsylvania. The poor animals need all the comfort they can get, especially the ones who never get that forever home.

Mini Mystery E Part 1 is complete:

I love the colors, lately I have a thing for lime green, and this is sure full of it.

Heather is almost done, I still can't find the leaf beads, but I tried her on anyway:

Don't I look stylish in my work shorts with my hair all a wreck?

And blanket three is also done, I just have to sew in the ends and pack up a box:


Abe is a much better model than I am:

I can't find the leaf beads that I'm supposed to sew on the ends of Heather's i-cord. I put them somewhere safe where nothing would happen to them, now if I could just remember where that could be. Therefore no picture of Heather yet, I want her to be 100% finished.

Worked on my Common Ground sampler, all of the outer border, part of the inner border and all of part 1 is now completed. I'm very glad the over one stitching has stopped for the moment.

I've set it aside to work on my Mystery sampler. Part four was released today on Mystery 6, and I also started a new smaller Mystery called Mini Mystery E. This set of Mini Mysteries (I missed the earlier ones) has the theme of gemstones, and this one is emeralds. No photo yet, I should be finished with part 1 soon, all I have left is some of the beading.

Finished two cat sized blankets for the still working on the dog sized blanket. I wanted to make something my dog would fit on, and he's 85 pounds so it's gonna be big. I thought most people would probably make smaller stuff since it's quicker, but big dogs need blankets too.

I readily admit that the ruffle on blanket 1 was an accident. I picked up too many stitches around the edges, but it was cute so I let it stay. I thought blanket 2 was wild enough without needing a ruffle. I bought a whole bunch more yarn while we were shopping at Walmart tonight, so there are several more blankets in my future.

Commenting on comments

Robbyn got Voodoo Vince and Cursed Mummy - cool, I hope Myria has as much fun with Cursed Mummy as I did. You'll have to let me know about Voodoo Vince, I haven't had a chance to test that one yet.

Keri asked if I was a Dallas knitter. Technically I'm an Irving knitter, but close enough. I thought I was the only knitter in the Dallas area, until I found the Dallas Handknitter's Guild which meets once a month, and then I was overwhelmed. Fiber Crack is a blog by another Dallas area knitter.

Vash thinks I should knit Zedd a sweater. I'm thinking something in Fun Fur or Boa, so he can be fluffy like a "normal" cat. Zedd likes to burrow, he spent the entire evening on my lap completely covered by dog blanket. Between him and the blanket, my lap was 147 degrees.

Mopsie asked if Mystery 6 was cross stitch. Yes, mostly. There are some specialty stitches and some beading but most of it is cross stitch. The designer Martina creates incredibly intricate designs and incredibly gorgeous designs. I like to go to her website and just drool.

Current Reads: