It's Almost Time ....

Dear Barnes & Noble Magazine Arranger Person,

I am writing with a very simple request. I am a magazine junkie. I religiously buy People and US every week. It is imperative that I keep up with the latest news regarding Brad and Angelina and Jessica and Nick. I simply couldn't go a week without seeing the latest picture of Britney Spears' new baby (his name is Sean Preston, in case you didn't know). But the magazines that I love even more than People and US are crochet magazines.

Oh indeed I do. I drool over the yarn advertisements, plan out how I'll make every pattern in every issue (regardless of skill level) and nod agreeably with the people who write in expressing their love for crochet. Needless to say, I can't wait to purchase every new crochet magazine that comes out.

But my dear BNMAP, we have a problem. You insist on mixing the crochet magazines in with the cross stitch magazines. And the shelves you stack them on are a little high for me. AND you have so many magazines that of course you have to arrange them so they'll all fit. So when I'm standing beneath the magazines most of the time all I can see are the letters C-R-O.

Need I tell you how many times I have reached excitedly for what I *thought* was a new crochet magazine only to find it was CROSS STITCH? It's bad enough you've jammed in the quilting magazines with the crochet and half a letter Q can look very similar to a C but to tease me with *3* letters? Is this really necessary? Therefore, I would appreciate it if you would relocate the crochet magazines to their very own shelf. Is that asking too much?

And no, I don't have one of your damn discount cards.

Sincerely,

April

Are we all sick of squares yet? I know I am. In fact they're all starting to look the same to me. This is the last square I think I'll be doing for a while. "Cobblestones" by Chris Simon. And no, this one did NOT speak to me.

Well it's just about that time, isn't it? Only 12 odd hours until the drawing. But of course there's still one more FANTASTIC PRIZE ! Will this be in YOUR basket? OK, OK, *imaginary* basket. But real prizes.

This is pretty self explanatory, wouldn't you say? It's a book. It has patterns for babies. Because at least once in your life you'll need to make something for a baby shower or a co-worker or whoever's procreating.

Andy says, "Good luck, everyone!"

Your New Best Friend

This is my co-worker, Iris. She's a delightful Greek lady who is either working very hard or laughing very hard. Between now and Wednesday morning you'll be wanting to send her all kinds of nice thoughts.

And why would you want to do that? Well because come Wednesday morning Iris will be drawing the names of the two people who are going to win the Heartmade Blessings baskets. Actually, we need to clarify something here. When I originally thought up this contest I figured I'd have one pretty little basket with a few balls of yarn in it. What I've ended up with is a 58 gallon Rubbermaid container. The best laid plans and all that. So, I apologize. There will be no baskets. There will be other items, as seen in this blog, but there will be no baskets. But if you had your little heart set on getting a basket, heck I'll kick in $5 and you can go down to Michael's and pick out your own basket. Good luck finding one big enough.

Back to Iris. The reason that Iris will be drawing the names is because I have personal friends who are entered in this contest. And we don't want any hints of impropriety being tossed about. This is not the White House, it's The Weaving Inn. So, Wednesday Iris will pick two random names and I'll run back to my little desk where I should be working but instead I'll post the names of the two winners. Sound good? I thought so.

OK, so you're gonna win all this wonderful stuff but April flaked on the basket. What are you going to carry all your FANTASTIC PRIZES in? I suggest this FANTASTIC PRIZE right here.

No, I have no idea why I can't get this picture any smaller. I made it smaller in Photoshop and when it loads it gets bigger. But oh well, at least you can see the detail better.

Edit: OK, now the picture is the size I wanted it to be. And I didn't do anything to it. I wish the little men who live inside my computer would just move out and quit torturing me like this.

They're Talking To Me ...

My granny squares. They've started talking to me. OK, I admit it - there might have been a little recreational drug use in high school (sorry, Mom) but that was almost 30 YEARS AGO. Shouldn't I be over these flashbacks by now? And yet ... they speak. Well not all of them. Just this one.

There I was, on the couch yesterday afternoon weaving in my ends, and this square whispered, "Baby blanket." To say I was shocked is a bit of an understatement. But I'm a polite Canadian so I said, "Excuse me?" And clear as day, I heard it again. "Baby blanket." I had originally intended this square to go with my other squares for the Crochetdude and Heartmade Blessings. Then it occurred to me that granny squares have been around forever and me, well, not quite so long. So who am I to question the wisdom of a granny square? Sorry Drew, I'm holding this one back. The granny square has spoken.

In other acts of charitable giving here is Project Linus blanket # 5. It's nothing fancy, a double strand of Simply Soft in a V-stitch, blah, blah, blah.

Did someone say "giving." As in GIVING away prizes? Well of course we have prizes, the contest isn't over yet. We've still got two more days to go and I haven't posted any prizes since ... like ... Thursday. S-L-A-C-K-E-R. OK, no need to point out the obvious, ladies. Our first FANTASTIC PRIZE is ...

It's a combo prize. The lovely leaflet "Quilts To Crochet" and a bottle of E&O Body Lotion in French Lavender. Because it's my favorite body lotion and I want the entire world to smell like lavender. You don't like lavender? Give it to your grandmother, it's the universal grandmother fragrance.

And our next FANTASTIC PRIZE is ...

A white box. How exciting. Haha, fooled ya! It's what's inside that's exciting! An entire POUND of See's chocolates. Mmmm .... more chocolate. What's a contest without multiple prizes involving chocolate? For those of you not familiar with See's chocolates this is some good stuff. Trust me, I know my chocolate. And if you don't believe me just ask Kerry .... or Sue .... or Cindy.

Hmm ... I seem to be forgetting something. Lordy, I hate when that happens. There was something else I was going to post and it's slipped right out of my tiny brain.

WAIT !!!

I REMEMBER. It's another FANTASTIC PRIZE!

Sharkey's hand carved crochet hook. Size K. K is for Krazy. And yes, yes I am.

Zen Crochet

You know how sometimes you just want to crochet and veg. Not think about pattern repeats or changing colors. No counting, just stitch stitch stitch. Well when I feel like that, this is what I work on. This is square 5 of 12 for the Crochetdude's Monet Afghan. 1 sc 2 dc in each sc, all the way across. You end up with shells that look like they're swaying back and forth. Throw in a little Red Heart SS in "Waterlilies" and this is what you get. Something simple, yet effective. So I worked on it tonight at the weekly meeting of the Silicon Valley Stitchers. I need to get this DONE.

Well what have we here? I do believe this is today's FANTASTIC PRIZE. I've lost track of the numbers so now everything will simply be a FANTASTIC PRIZE. Two skeins of Cascade Yarn which is somewhat obvious by the large labels in the picture. 100% wool. They're two different weights but you could probably make a little purse with them and felt it. Or something. Apparently I'm still in a Zen state of mind. And I have a cold. Woe is me. And a new co-worker who thinks my name is "Rachel." But let's not get into that.

Lily and Daisy say, "Give us liberty or give us PEANUTS!"

I'm Excited

Ladies and gentlemen, let's cut right to the chase here. No more beating around the bush. No more dragging our feet. No more dillydallying. Because admit it, you've been waiting months. Some of you may even have been waiting longer. You've checked Amazon.com far more times than you'd care to admit. You've fretted over "publishing delays." You've erected altars to the Yarn Gods and burned jasmine incense. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you the wait is over. Finally. And not only is the wait over, it's our next FANTASTIC PRIZE !!!!

Oh. My. God. Yep. Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet - The Happy Hooker. One of our many FANTASTIC PRIZES. Am I the Prize Goddess or wut? For only one teeny tiny little 12" square, this pristine, hot off the press copy can be YOURS. Even better, I bought myself a copy at the same time. So I wouldn't umm ... make copies of all the patterns in your copy. So it will be in immaculate shape when it arrives in YOUR mailbox! Wow.

And I am doubly excited! Because look what came in my Beautiful Birthday Box today from my Mummy!

Is she the greatest Mummy in the world or what? Twelve balls of my all-time favorite yarn Bernat Satin. Now I know I've said that Simply Soft is my all-time favorite and you're probably thinking I'm just fickle. But you see, they don't sell Bernat Satin in the Bay Area. Therefore my stash comes from CANADA. So ... Bernat Satin is my all-time favorite CANADIAN yarn and Simply Soft is my all-time favorite AMERICAN yarn. I have dual yarn-ship. In addition to my 12 (woohoo!) balls of Bernat Satin, there are 4 balls of Paton's Grace which is a mercerized cotton and one huge ball of Phentex Craft Cotton. Please note: the nosey cat on the right did not come in the Birthday Box.

Ever wondered what $30.00 in Canadian 50 cent stamps looks like?

I'm thinking someone at Canada Post has far too much time on their hands.

Speaking Of Crochet

I suppose you all think I've been busy running my little contest and haven't bothered to actually crochet anything myself. Well excuse me, but I'm afraid you're terribly mistaken. As evidence of that, here are five squares I've done for Drew The Crochetdude. These are all Chris Simon's designs and they've all been done in Simply Soft (as if I would use anything else). These squares are so much fun to do and her instructions are so well written. Trust me, if I can follow them, ANYONE can.

And here is Miss Lydia No Face modeling the "Windy City Chicago" hat from the Little Box of Crocheted Hats and Scarves. Since my tension is usually a little on the tight side and since I have such a fat head I went up a hook size. Apparently all the wine I generally consume during crocheting had me more relaxed than I thought I was. This is one honkin' big hat.

Let us now turn our attention to the real reason anyone reads this blog. Of course, that would be FANTASTIC PRIZES. Since we just celebrated a long weekend and I celebrated a birthday I got the wonderful idea to combine three days worth of prizes into one spectaclar prize! Hey, it's my contest - I get to make up the rules. Anyway, here it is and this is what the nice person selling it on eBay had to say about it:

This hook is a size L. It's 7 1/2" long and handcarved by Papa Don. The color has lovely shades of deep strawberry pink, purple grape and rosewood burgundy woods. He does not use a lathe. Each one is handcarved, free form without patterns, and no two are exactly alike.

This special hardwood is dyed, laminated and impregnated with resin under extreme heat and pressure, resulting in a waterproof, hard and very durable, ultra smooth material. The colors and finish are in the woods and no external finish is used. When Papa Don does his final touches the hook just glides through your yarns. You won't find a smoother finish anywhere!

All of our hooks come with a nice protective pouch.

I wish I could enter my own contest.

Upload Phobia

Yesterday was my 46th birthday. I went to Stitches West with Kerry, Sue and Pam. I didn't buy anything. Yes, you heard that right. I DID NOT BUY ANYTHING. Frankly, Frank, I was overwhelmed. There was just too much to see. And after awhile it all started to look the same. However, I did attend a very interesting demonstration on Tunisian crochet. This is a sweater done in Tunisian crochet. It's a combination of crochet and knitting but the real beauty of this particular needlecraft is that it's very simple to change colors. And Lordy knows, I like color. The more color the better. Except for when you combine orange, pink and brown.

Speaking of presents, I got lovely presents from both Sue and Kerry. I need to take pictures of those presents and post them. But since I'm posting from home today it will have to wait until tomorrow. Because, as we all know, my computer SUCKS. Oh, and Mom, if you're reading this - "IT'S NOT MY FAULT THE POST OFFICE DIDN'T DELIVER YOUR BOX ON TIME." And to my very special friend in New Jersey, "NO, I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOUR BOX IS EITHER." Sheesh people, my super-hero powers do not extend to the mechanics of the United States Post Office.

Where are prizes 11, 12 and 13? On my hard drive, I'm afraid to try and upload them. It's a terrible thing to be afraid of your computer.

At Least I Was At My Desk

From the "Not Everyone Owns A Mirror" department ... This morning at Starbuck's I saw a man dressed in a black pinstripe suit with a sky blue shirt underneath. Now I'm not a big fan of blue and black together but it's acceptable. However, in what I assume was an attempt to push the boundaries of fashion, he had wrapped around his neck a pink, brown and ORANGE scarf. Do I need to repeat that? A pink, brown and ORANGE scarf. For the love of God, who, tell me, WHO, thinks these colors go together? And yes, the colors were exactly as shown above (don't ask me how many hours I wasted at work today doing Google searches on images of color).

As further evidence that I might not have been working too hard today, I present to you a box of Fudgsicles. Why? Because I want, no need, to know why fudgsicles, popsicles, push-up pops and all those other assorted freezer department temptations are known as Ice Cream NOVELTIES. Now, I don't know about you, but fudgsicles have been around since I was knee high to a grasshopper. The novelty has worn off. Dictionary.com also defines novelty as "a small inexpensive mass-produced article (syn: knicknack)" or "cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing." As weird as I might be, I can assure you I have never worn a fudgsicle on my jacket.

Holy smokes! Is this FANTASTIC PRIZE # 10!?!?!?!

Why I do believe it is. "Vogue Knitting Crocheted Hats." My very favorite hat book. Please ... hold your applause.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Curse You, Gateway Computer!

Alas, I am still being plagued with upload issues on my home computer, aka The Dinosaur. I've written to the nice people at Blogger, done everything they've suggested in the "Uploading Pictures FAQ" and it's still not working. Actually, let me rephrase that. "It's still not working 95% of the time." Which is even worse than if it was not working 100% of the time, because there's always the *hope* it might work this time. Perhaps it's simply a cruel joke being perpetrated by a nerdy little engineer at Google. "Muhahaha, look! There she goes again, trying to upload a picture of a Ring Around The Rosey granny square." A pox on you, you nerdy little Kraft Macaroni & Cheese eating engineer! (My sincere apologies to all those engineers who might have taken offense to this rant.)

Moving on ... Tonight was the weekly meeting of the Silicon Valley Stitchers. As usual, I was there. Keeping me company were Sue, Pam, Kerry, Cindy and Iris. And Felicia dropped by to say hello. Felicia has colored her hair yellow and green. We miss Felicia who is busy with night school. With her tattoos and wild hair she definitely added an element of "tres cool" to our little group.

Prizes, prizes, that's really why you're here, aren't you? As usual, I'm behind by two prizes but as mentioned above, that is not my fault. It is the fault of Google. Let's see ... if I was a crocheter, what would I want to win? Hey, why doesn't April do a theme for FANTASTIC PRIZES # 8 and # 9! And the theme shall be ... Crocheting Notions!

WeEeEeE!!! Crochet cushions and a yarn / thread cutter pendant! OK, so I'm a little uninspired tonight. I'll do better tomorrow. I promise. But looky der! Blogger let me upload 2, count 'em 2, pictures. I'm ... thrilled.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A very happy Valentine's Day to everyone on this fine, sunny California day. Hopefully the special someone in your life (if you're so lucky to have one) has remembered this Hallmark occasion and sent you something. If not, well that's why yarn was invented. To strangle them with.

I was up at 4am this morning finishing my "Butterfly Garden" square. Why? Beats me. However I have no picture to share. It's one thing to be crocheting at 4am, it's an entirely different story to be capable of taking a picture and uploading it.

So since there's no picture to dazzle you with, how about this instead - FANTASTIC PRIZE # 6!


This loyal readers is the "Sweet Dreams Afghan" kit from Mary Maxim. As per their website - "Kit includes Baby Soft 100% acrylic DK/sportweight yarn and pattern book with 4 more baby afghans." In yellow, because it's almost springtime.

Next up - FANTASTIC PRIZE # 7!

What Valentine's Day would be complete without a box of Purdy's chocolates? Now I'm sure most of you are scratching your head going, "What in the world are Purdy's chocolates?" Pfft. Only the best chocolates in the world. From the land of great chocolate - Canada. Trust me on this one, I know my chocolate.

Yarn Organization 101

This was my bedroom Saturday afternoon. Being the highly anal individual that I am, I decided my yarn needed to be organized. So off I went to WalMart and picked up 3 - 58 gallon plastic containers. No, those aren't them in the picture. Those containers were purchased 2 months ago when my yarn got out of control the first time. I'm on a vicious spiral here. But oddly enough, I thought I had more yarn than this. So after all was said and done, I had one container left over. And Stitches West is this weekend. Could this be anything other than a sign from God that I need to purchase more yarn? Well of course it is. And when God speaks, I listen. Umm, sometimes.

Here we have my personal advertisement for Caron's Simply Soft yarn. I love SS. Can you tell? Other than 2 or 3 skeins of Red Heart, this is all SS. Looking at this picture you might think I had every color it came in. But NO. I was wrong. Last night, Kerry was crocheting with the most beautiful shade of red I'd ever seen. And for some reason she seemed rather pleased that I didn't own any. Pfft. Yarn envy.

What? Yes, I know. I haven't posted the FANTASTIC PRIZE for Sunday OR Monday. Let us correct that now. I felt it was time to throw in some more wool (Get it? "I felt" "wool", haha, little yarn humour there).


Four skeins of KnitPicks "Wool of the Andes". Two skeins of Blue Bonnet and two skeins of Asparagus. Sounds like a serving of vegetables with margarine, doesn't it? But anyways, there you have it. FANTASTIC PRIZE # 5! Prize # 6 to follow later, once I figure out what it is.

A Case For Owner Surrender

What do you get when you combine this -

And a very hyper version of this?

Well you get this, of course -

That would be my carpet. After the "Andy meets a glass of red wine" incident. Don't you love the contrast between the whiteness of the table salt and the varying shades of red? Some people might suggest that this is a good reason not to drink. I however view this situation as a very good reason NEVER TO ADOPT A KITTEN.

Let's move on to more pleasant subjects, shall we? Such as FANTASTIC PRIZE # 4!

This is the Leisure Arts booklet "Afghans By The Pound." With 11 lovely patterns for you to create. To assist in the creating, I'm also including 3 skeins of Simply Soft "Plum Wine." Total retail value of this fabulous prize is ... umm, I dunno. BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Yeah, that's it, billions.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some table salt to vacuum.

TGIF

Last night was the weekly meeting of the Silicon Valley Stitchers, a group I started three months ago. You would be hard pressed to find a more delightful group of ladies. Every now and again I get ambitious and try to teach something. Last night we made Janelle's heart-shaped dishcloth, a picture of which I posted a few days ago. Jenny, Iris and Lynn all did extremely well and I was quite pleased. I love teaching the very few things I know.

Yeah, yeah, I know. You're just here for the announcement of FANTASTIC PRIZE # 3. Fine then, here it is. "Big Book Of Crochet." Frankly I think they need to redo the title; shouldn't it be "THE Big Book Of Crochet." Perhaps they were on a budget. Anyways it's fresh from Barnes & Noble, the spine hasn't even been cracked. 120 projects for you to pick and choose between. 206 pages. All for just one teeny weeny 12" square. And we're only on day 3!

Good Lord there's a horse in my blog! NO, I am not giving away a horse as well. The horse is here so that I can promote my friend Joe's website; www.tbfriends.com . Joe and his wife Cathy own a ranch in Woodland, CA where they rescue off the track thoroughbreds. And just about every other animal you can think of. Each day Joe posts about life on a rescue ranch. He runs contests to give away horses to worthy homes. No, he doesn't get these horses for free, BUT he gives them away for free. To little girls and some not so little girls who's lifelong dream has been to own a horse. Joe's webpage is the first thing I read every morning because, as he frequently reminds us, "There is good in everything."

A Tisket, A Tasket,

... what's goin' in the basket? As posted yesterday, I am trying to help the Crochetdude (aka Drew Emborsky) collect 12" squares for Heartmade Blessings. If you check out his blog at http://thecrochetdude.blogspot.com you can get all the details regarding the squares.

To help motivate all of you wonderful crocheters out there I am going to be having a raffle at the end of February (that would be FEB. 28TH) for a basket of yarnaholic goodies. For each square you send to Drew you will get one entry for the basket. Send 10 squares, get 10 entries. All you need to do is send me an e-mail and say, "Hey April, I sent Drew 2,893, 532 squares" and you'll be entered.

So what the heck is going in the ol' basket, you might ask. Yarn I've had in storage for 10 years? A pair of rusty knitting needles? A pattern book with half the pages missing and all the size large instructions highlighted in yellow? Pfft, this is the Weaving Inn, where our middle name is "over the top."

Each day, between now and FEBRUARY 28TH, I will be adding a FANTASTIC PRIZE to the basket. A picture of the FANTASTIC PRIZE will be posted for you to drool over. For those of you in the audience who are particularly astute, you'll see that I've just magically supplied myself with blog fodder until the end of the month.

Some of you may now be saying, "Hey, you announced the contest yesterday and there was no picture of a FANTASTIC PRIZE." You are correct. So today we will have two pictures. Drool on ...

FANTASTIC PRIZE # 1 - 4 (FOUR) balls of Debbie Bliss "Merino DK" in a delightful shade of ... grape? Eggplant? You decide. 100% Merino wool, 110m/50g per ball. Make a scarf, make a hat, use them to stuff your bra, the choice is YOURS.

FANTASTIC PRIZE # 2 - 2 (TWO) skeins of Knit Picks "Shadow" lace weight yarn. In the colorway "Jewels." 100% Merino wool, 440yds/50g per skein. A shawl? A pair of socks? Two pairs? I have no idea, I've never made socks before.

Ladies (and gentlemen), start your hooks ...

Just Along For The Ride

Yesterday was a very nice day at the House Of Torture for me. One of my co-workers is leaving and I was offered her position. Not only is this a promotion, it also means more MONEY. Actually let me rephrase that. "It also means more YARN money." Since that seems to be where all my money goes. The only downside to all of this is that they'll need to find someone for my position and you just know that's going to take some time, being the uber accountant that I am. So until then I'll be doing two jobs at the same time. Which will seriously cut into my crocheting time. And the Crochet Olympics is only two short days away. Can she do it? Will April be successful in her quest for the Crochet Gold? Stay tuned, the fun is just beginning.


To further add to the excitement of the day, when I arrived home last night I found my finalized divorce papers in the mail. This rendering of the marital bond was accomplished without me ever setting foot inside a courtroom or speaking to a lawyer. My ex-husband did everything online. Given that we met online this seemed a particularly appropriate way to finish things as well. So the pressing question of the day is should I keep my married name, go back to my maiden name (which I hated) or take on an entirely new name. What do you think of "April Hogsbottom"? It sounds rather British doesn't it? I could go Native American, "April CrochetsLikeTheWind." Something poetic? "April Garden" Hmm ... sounds like the name of a stripper. Feel free to offer suggestions.

OK, enough about me, let's talk about something important. Like "Heartmade Blessings." Here's a little blurb about them from their website: "Heartmade Blessings is a not-for-profit, world-wide group of volunteers dedicated to providing hand-crafted items to those people suffering a loss, tragedy, or going through a rough time that need to be reminded of the simple fact that people care." If you read the CrochetDude's blog you're probably already familiar with this organization. If you don't read the CrochetDude's blog, well why don't you? Anyways, yesterday Drew (aka the CrochetDude) posted that they have had an overwhelming number of requests for afghans in recent months. Currently they have over 100 requests pending. That's a lotta squares. And that's where you come in (and me too). One square. That's all it takes. Just one 12" square that'll take you what, maybe 2 hours to do? All the details are available here http://thecrochetdude.blogspot.com . And if you make a square and send it to Drew, send me an e-mail and say, "Hey Miss Bossy, I sent Drew a square." And ta da! You'll be entered in a drawing for a basket of yarnaholic goodies. Umm ... I don't know exactly what will be in that basket because I just thought up the idea but it'll be GOOD. I'll put the basket together in the next day or two and take fabulous photos and it'll be so FANTASTIC that maybe you'll make TWO squares. Cuz then you'd get two chances to win. See how that works?

Nothing Says Romance ...

... quite like a dishcloth. Forget roses, they'll only die and then drop petals all over the carpet. Chocolates? Right to the hips. Diamonds? A magnet for thieves. No, my friends, this Valentine's Day it's all about the dishcloth. Practical, useful and guaranteed to last a heck of a lot longer than stupid roses.

Over at ol' Crochetville we're gearing up for the 2006 Crochet Olympics. Being the top notch athlete that I am, I will be competing in the "Afghan Squares" event. My challenge will be to complete the first 32 squares from the Leisure Arts booklet "63 Easy-To-Crochet Pattern Stitches Combine to Make An Heirloom Afghan" (let's hope the squares are easier to do than type that mouthful).

16 days - 32 squares, should be a snap eh? And being the clever girl that I am, I have signed up for "The Great 63 (more) Menagerie" crochetalong. So you see, I'll actually be doing TWO crochetalongs at once. How's that for multi-tasking? See what happens when you finally achieve Granny Square Supremacy? You start to think you can take on the world.

Super Simply Soft Shawl Sunday

Congratulations to the newest Super Bowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Although I was rooting for the Seattle Seahawks, I shall be a good sport and say, "Way to go, Steelers." Now maybe they'll send me the $5.00 I need to pay the bet I had placed on this game.

I may have been the only person in America who didn't actually watch the game though. I only get one channel (NBC 11) so I had to wait for Sports Sunday to air so that I could catch the highlights. But of course, when one has no T.V. to watch, one can spend oodles of time crocheting. So I worked on my Simply Soft Shawl (don't you love alliteration? I do). With only 30 more rows to go and then the edging I hope to be finished with it this week. I'm trying to keep my WIP's down to an acceptable number. Currently I have my shawl, my Monet afghan, and my Mile-A-Minute afghan on the go. My Mile-A-Minute afghan has been lingering for over a year now and each time I look in the closet it glares back at me.

Can I help it if I was lured in by the "Mile-A-Minute" promise? Mile-A-Millenium is more like it. And quite frankly, it's one ugly afghan. I'll post pictures one of these days so you can see for yourself. U-G-L-Y.


And then of course there's this. A magazine with at LEAST 4 afghans in it that I would love to make. You know how it is, you pick up a magazine hoping against hope there'll be at least ONE nice project in it and inside are 30 variations on the delightful toilet paper cozy. But not this magazine. Oh no. This magazine actually has things in it you'd want to make. Which is why I was a total geek and took a picture of the cover so I could show you all. This is a magazine you need to check out. I got mine at Barnes and Noble last Friday. And not only does it have nice patterns, it has 3 or 4 yarn giveaways. All you need to do is send in a postcard and you could win FREE YARN. Or a copy of "The Little Box of Knitted Throws." What are you waiting for? Buy this magazine!

Here, There And Everywhere

Today my friend, Kerry and I decided to engage in a little retail therapy. Of the yarn variety. Our first stop was Knitting Arts in Saratoga where I dropped off this -

Minus the cat, of course. This is my fourth blanket for Project Linus. It's called "Beth's Little Star Afghan." The pattern is available at www.crochetpatterncentral.com . It's done in Caron Simply Soft Brites. I like how it turned out but the entire time I was crocheting with the yellow all I could think of was, "egg yolks, egg yolks." I don't think I'll be making anything more with that particular color.

Our next stop was at a new store (to us, anyways) called "YarnDogs". It's in a small town called Los Gatos which is very upscale. As was the store. "Yes, that's a lovely knitting bag and no, I'm not going to pay $160 for it." Instead I bought an Addi crochet hook in size "K" and some cute kitty notecards. I don't think I'll be going back, if for no other reason than it was extremely HUMID in the store. Almost like walking into a sauna. Granted it was warm today but you could practically feel the moisture in the air. Some kind of innovative yarn storage technique? Who knows.

Finally, in an act of utmost bravery, we drove to Milpitas and hit ... WalMart. On a Saturday afternoon. However, being the seasoned WalMart shopper that I am, I embarked on my "perimeter route" only to find that Kerry was a "weave and dodge aisle jockey." Was this to be the end of a beautiful friendship?!? Fortunately a compromise was reached, we would weave and dodge to the yarn department and do the perimeter route back to the checkout. Thank goodness.

Kerry purchased the yarn for joining her Monet afghan squares together and I got this for my next Project Linus blanket.

This is Bernat Softee Baby. It's a pale blue and white although you'd never know it from this crappy picture I took. I thought since all the baby blankets I've made so far for Project Linus have been in girly colors it was time to do something suitable for a boy. I don't have a link to the pattern because it was one of those free project sheets you see hanging all over the place in Michaels. But it's nice, trust me. Hopefully I'll get my shawl finished this week and then I can start on the blanket.

Inch By Inch

OK, I promise - this is the last granny square I'll post for a while. This is another Chris Simon pattern; it's called "Ring Around The Rosey." I switched to a "J" hook but alas, I'm still short of the magical 12" number. This square measures in at 11". Now most people would say, "Well just do another round of dc's and it will be done." But what about the integrity of the design? Chris didn't design this square with 3 outer rounds of dc's, she designed it with 2. It's perfectly proportioned the way it is. So this weekend, I'll give it a go with a "K". I refuse to give up! These patterns are far too pretty and I *must* win the Crafting For A Cause challenge for February.

In other news, tonight was the weekly get together of the Silicon Valley Stitchers. Since I'm the ringleader I was there. And so were Rosy, Amy from Virginia AND Sue from Crochetville! If you want to check out a very interesting and well written blog then you must visit Sue's; it's at http://goodyarns.blogspot.com . She was one of my inspirations for starting my own blog. Hers looks way nicer than mine. She also does beautiful crochet. Color me envious. Anyways, a very pleasant evening was had by all. Oh, and if you happen to be at the Coffee Society in the next little while you MUST have a piece of their Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. It's beyond delicious.


Here is one of the reasons why it's better to adopt an older cat, as opposed to a kitten. This is Andy, who will be a year in a few months. The cage he is perched on is inhabited by my two mice, Lily and Daisy. He spends a lot of time up there. So much so, that the metal bars on the cage are beginnging to bend as he gets bigger. I'm thinkin' a new mouse cage is in the near future. But before you get concerned about the mice being terrorized by this rather hungry looking feline on top of their home, it doesn't seem to bother them. Lily, who is either fearless or very stupid, is forever sticking her nose through the bars when Andy is peering in. On the off chance he has a few sunflower seeds to share.